“I grew up with a gay sister who practically raised me, who was like a mother figure,” Jessica Majors said.
Majors, a sophomore mathematics education major from Dothan, was nominated for the 2015 homecoming court to represent the Spectrum Alliance.
“The goal of the Spectrum Alliance is to promote mutually supportive relationships among all students and members of the surrounding community in the interest of advancing campus and community diversity,” according to the Spectrum Alliance Facebook group.
This marks the first year that the Spectrum Alliance has nominated someone for homecoming court. Majors said she hopes that it will begin to nominate someone every year.
“Everyone was a little hesitant to volunteer and homecoming wasn’t something that I ever really saw myself doing,” Majors said. “But I did want Spectrum to be represented and there weren’t a lot of people wanting to do it.
“I was nervous, but I think it will be really good for the organization,” she said.
“People outside of Spectrum think it’s great (that I am running), and then they realize what I’m representing,” Majors said. “I haven’t really received any negative reactions, but they kind of just shut down afterwards. They aren’t really overly talkative about it.”
Majors recognizes that some people are completely closed off by the idea and that “you won’t change their mind.”
“People are going to believe what they want to believe,” said Majors. “I believe the only time it becomes a problem is when people are reacting in a disrespectful or violent manner.”
Majors ran in order to raise awareness for the Trevor Project, a “suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 to 24,” Majors said.
Majors said her sister is happy about her running for homecoming court.
“She is actually leaving to be deployed soon, so she is happy she got to see me do it before she left,” Majors said.
“Spectrum focuses on being a place that students can go to for a support system,” Majors said. “We’ve been talking about being more active and promoting more active ideas.”
Because she has a gay sister, Majors says that she saw the way people reacted to it.
“I believe that everyone should be accepted, not just tolerated, in a community,” she said. “People should be more open to others’ ideas and beliefs.”
Comments