The Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), Lambda, and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) are seeking personal narratives from Ole Miss students, staff, and faculty who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning their sexuality. The writers of these narratives will be kept anonymous. The narratives will be collected, published on the Internet and on paper, and distributed locally and globally. This collection of stories will bring to light the stories of GLBTQ at the University of Mississippi. We are seeking narratives that tell your personal story, especially in how you have been treated (positively, negatively, or neutrally) on campus and in Oxford because of your sexual identity. Discussions of faith and politics as they relate to your identity are also welcomed. An editorial board of members from GSA, Lambda, and PFLAG will determine if submissions are suitable for inclusion in this collection according to the guidelines above. Hate speech will be discarded.

These narratives will represent the voices of Ole Miss students, staff, and faculty; they express on paper the oftentimes unexpressible in conversation. This anonymous format allows the authors an open forum in which to reveal what it's like to be gay, lesbian, transgendered, or questioning. We hope this collection of stories will serve as conversation starters among you and your friends, classmates, and professors. We are not seeking to create a consensus regarding sexuality but rather foster a nonconfrontational environment in which discussions of sexuality can occur.

Please limit your narrative to 1500 words.  Submissions can be anonymously submitted here, sent to webmaster@thehearmeoutsite.org or you may drop your narrative off at the Sarah Isom Center in Room 203.  The deadline for submission is October 30, 2009.

This project was conceived in light of a similar project, entitled "If I told you," begun at Gordon College, MA. Please see their website for more details: ifitoldyou.org