Pride group launches in Marion following anti-gay River Valley speech
The community conversation and debate following Jim McGuire's anti-gay statements at the River Valley graduation commencement has sparked more than just discourse: a local pride group has started in Marion.
With the goal of providing a safe community for people who identify as LGBTQIA+, Shannon Pegg, who has made Marion home for the past 15 years and has been happily married to her wife for the past 13, started a Facebook group.
Expecting to only draw in a few people, the reception from the Marion community blew her away.
Nearly 200 people have joined the group in the first several weeks.
“After everything went down at the school, at River Valley, that was kind of the last straw for me, you know, and I talked to my friends and family and said, ‘Should I do this?’ knowing it could be a little challenging in this area, and everybody was like, ‘Yeah, do it,’” Pegg said.
“As soon as I put the call out for, ‘Hey, this is what we’re offering,’ all kinds of people started coming out of the woodwork and interested in joining and just wanting community."
Pegg explained this hasn't been the first time the LGBTQIA+ community in Marion has attempted to organize.
She said a group of pro-LGBTQIA+ youths marched in the Popcorn Parade a few years ago, and a resource called the "Unity Center" briefly opened and then shut down in the past.
This time, she said though there are fears of pushback or violence coming from others in Marion, she felt it was time to stand up for her community, especially youth who have considered suicide due to their sexuality.
“Somebody has got to do something at some point, because there’s such a need in the community, especially when you look at the stats with the youth, they’re four times as likely to attempt suicide and 1.8 million is estimated between 13 to 24 to seriously consider suicide each year, and I’ve got a kid, and I don’t want to see this. I’m tired of seeing this,” she said.
Pegg also noted that there is now uncertainty regarding the future of same-sex marriage after Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called on the Supreme Court to reconsider gay marriage and contraceptive rights as Roe v. Wade was historically overturned Friday.
“It’s definitely a very terrifying time for all of us. As far as the group goes, I’m moving forward. If we’re going down, we’re going down and give ‘em a fight, because right now is the time that we need to band together and hold each other up, because these kinds of things are going to increase the level of suicides in the communities,” she said.
“I feel like I’m more galvanized at this point to keep pushing forward and, at the very least, give people a safe place to come and have some community.”
The group was to hold its first in-person event Saturday, a meet-and-greet picnic in Lincoln Park, where pride flags and pins were to be sold. Group organizers notified the Marion City Police Department of the event to ensure the safety of all in attendance.
Pegg said she hopes the group can be a support for people who are afraid to come out while living in a smaller, rural community and provide opportunities for people to come together, whether it be further picnics, "friendsgivings" or ways to organize politically.
“In our community, a lot of times we get kicked out of families, and we have to build our own families, and these groups are what make the difference and these groups are what save lives and give somebody a lifeline,” she said.
One Marion resident and group-member who is looking forward to the Saturday meet-and-greet is Emily Russell.
Russell, who grew up in rural Ohio, came out as transgender, non-binary, or agender, three years ago privately and to close friends, now chooses to use they /them pronouns.
Because Russell came out as an adult, they explained they didn't go through as many of the challenges some youth experience, although they hope the group can become a family for those individuals.
“I didn’t go through those challenges as a teen or a child, but I always knew I was kind of a tomboy. My dad didn’t have any sons, so he raised both me and my sister to help with the farm and be hardworking and things like that,” Russell said.
Married to a supportive husband, Kris, and a part of what they called an inclusive workplace as a behavioral health provider at OhioHealth, Russell said their decision to return to Ohio after earning a master's in social work from the University of Michigan was rooted in a desire to help Marion grow.
“Someone asked me why I came back to Marion, and I said I wanted to break the system from the inside-out,” Russell said.
Russell said they hope this group will allow people who need community to find something different than what McGuire expressed.
During the River Valley graduation, McGuire said:
"Choose a spouse, I suggest. I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose Biblical principles, you know, a male with a female and female with a male."
Russell also noted that the community pushback that has surfaced on social media in the weeks following the speech has only served to make the LGBTQIA+ community stronger by banding together.
“I think hope is one of those things that doesn’t ever really go away. It just flickers a little dimmer, and when you’re building a fire, sometimes you have to blow on the flames to get them to go up higher, to feed the flames, and even though someone is trying to snuff out our light, it has just created more power,” Russell said.
Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Pride group launches in Marion following anti-gay River Valley speech
