Katie Brandenburg
The Independent
ASHLAND —
A representative of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group, is attempting to provide more resources for GLBT individuals in the Ashland area.
Rocky Lucas of Russell was appointed to the board of directors of the KFA in August. He’s one of the few KFA board members in northeastern Kentucky. Another member of the board lives in Paintsville.
“This area’s bare when it comes to resources,” Lucas said.
The KFA has an ultimate goal of passing a statewide fairness law to protect GLBT Kentuckians from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit, according to its website.
But Lucas said his goals are smaller than that. He’ll soon begin a monthly film series focusing on GLBT issues. The initial event will be the first week of December at Hope’s Place.
Lucas said he also hopes to start a gay-straight alliance at Ashland Community and Technical College by the spring semester.
He said to his knowledge ACTC is the only public campus in the state without such a group.
“What I think is uniquely difficult about this area is, you know, there’s nothing already here to build on,” Lucas said.
He’s also meeting with representatives of local high schools in an attempt to eventually start gay-straight alliances there as well, but he said that’s a long-term goal that will first require a change in attitudes in the area.
Lucas said he’s moving slowly with forming high school groups because gay-straight alliances have a controversial history at Boyd County High School. The American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit against the Boyd County Board of Education on behalf of gay-straight alliance at BCHS in 2005 after the school refused to approve the club and later suspended student clubs, according to the ACLU website.
Lucas said he doesn’t want to cause damage to individuals and his cause by rushing into anything.
He said he’s hopeful the gay-straight alliance at ACTC will be easy to form.
Lucas said research shows GLBT youth have higher rates of behavior such as suicidal thoughts and drug abuse, and that’s because there aren’t enough resources available to them.
“The reason why is there’s no support,” he said.
The issue is particularly timely, he said, because of a recent string of suicides of teens who were victims of anti-gay bullying.
He said his goal is to support members of the GLBT community and their families.
Lucas is seeking a master’s degree in social work from the University of Kentucky and he’s already recruited others who are getting degrees in social services to help with the organization, including Doug Prince of Raceland.
Prince, who is seeking a master’s degree in counseling/human services, works at a local halfway house and said he’s had several clients who have come out to him.
“Just the helplessness and depression is, really, it’s just heartbreaking because they don’t have any options,” Prince said.
Prince said he decided to get involved in GLBT activism because he wishes he would have had more resources as a teen.
Prince, who attended Raceland-Worthington High School, said he only remembers one incident when he was bullied as a teen for being gay. The situation was dealt with quickly when the principal sided with him.
“I got very lucky,” he said.
Lucas said he completed the coming-out process this year to most of his family.
“I just lost out on so many years of my life, I think, trying to hide who I was,” he said.
One of the hardest things was coming out to his church in Russell. The members there told him they still loved him, but it was made clear he wasn’t going to be allowed to teach Sunday school or serve in other capacities in the church, Lucas said.
“Just the overall disappointment in it was so heartwrenching to me that it really angered me and it was just, like, ‘this isn’t right,’” he said.
Lucas said because he’s both openly gay and a Christian he wants to be a bridge between the gay and Christian communities to foster better understanding between the two.
For more information about the KFA, e-mail Lucas at boydrocky@yahoo.com.
KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
