LGBT students prepare for Tarrant County Gay Pride Week
Fifteen-year-old Xavier Khan has not always been proud of who he is. In fact, three years ago, he was afraid.
He was afraid to wear bright colors, such as pink, because others might know he was gay. He was afraid his friends and family would find out, and afraid of how they would react.
“The scariest part was coming out to my family,” said Xavier, a sophomore at O.D. Wyatt High School. “I came home with complete fear because I realized I left my phone at home, and I know my mom goes through it. She called me back and at that moment, I was like, ‘She read it. I’m so scared right now.’
“It literally had me to the point of tears because I didn’t want her to think I was a horrible kid.”
Xavier’s mom, Vanessa Pathak, said he didn’t have anything to fear from her.
“It wasn’t difficult for me, because when you are a parent, you love your kid no matter what. That is your kid,” Pathak said.
Now, Xavier’s violin case is lined with rainbow-colored duct tape. He wears pink shirts and decorates his outfits with a little unicorn in his front pocket. He is sometimes bullied, with people calling him names but is proud of who he is, which is why he plans to march in Saturday’s Gay Pride Parade.
“The Gay Pride Parade is all about showing acceptance for others and allowing people to be themselves. That is what I like, to show your personality and be loved for it,” Xavier said.
Tarrant County’s Gay Pride Week, from Oct. 2-12, includes several events in addition to the 33rd annual Pride Parade. There will be a pride picnic, a wedding reception for recently married couples, and a street festival. And the week includes Tarrant County’s first Teen Pride event.
“We want the teenagers to know that there is a LGBT community in Tarrant County to support and help them,” said Tina Harvey, president of the Tarrant County Gay Pride Week Association. “Teen suicide rates for LGBT individuals is still extremely high.”
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth are four to six times more likely to commit suicide than their their straight peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s is one reason Sharon Herrera, in the Fort Worth school district’s engagement office, started LGBTQ SAVES in 2010. The “Q” is for “questioning.”
“Having attempted suicide myself at the age of 16, I felt I had to do something,” said Herrera, now 50.
“It is a very vulnerable and a very dangerous period of their lives,” she said of the teen years. “The reason is there are few resources out there. Parents or society has rejected the LGBT community, and so I designed this so they can have a place to reach out and meet others.”
LGBTQ SAVES and Celebration Community Church are hosting Thursday’s free Teen Pride event, which include dancing, food and drinks for ages 14 to 18.
The Fort Worth school district has strict anti-bullying policies, and students and staff are supposed to be protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. However, Xavier said, the schools need to do to more to raise awareness about bullying, especially in high school.
Savannah Winters, 18 and now a senior at Boswell High School, agreed. She’s straight and helped form a Gay-Straight Alliance her sophomore year at Chisholm Trail High School. Winters said she and her gay and lesbian friends faced opposition in the creation of the club from disapproving staff members and parents.
Winters plans to participate in the gay pride events this week, as she did last year. It is important for straight youth to get involved, she said.
“They are a minority. If I don’t help, then nothing is going to change,” Winters said.
After the police inspection of the Rainbow Lounge, a Fort Worth gay bar, in 2009 that resulted in injuries to two bar patrons and a handful of arrests, the city of Fort Worth created a task force to study disparities in treatment, and changed several city policies regarding LGBT issues and enacted diversity training for city staff.
Xavier said he has fun at Gay Pride Week events and thinks it is important for other LGBT youth to do the same.
“It is good to participate to teach them it’s OK for other people to be themselves, and to be proud of yourself,” he said. “Because if you aren’t proud of yourself, then life isn’t fun.”
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Caty Hirst, 817-390-7984
This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 7:30 PM with the headline "LGBT students prepare for Tarrant County Gay Pride Week."