Betty DeGeneres, mother of lesbian comedian Ellen DeGeneres, made a special appearance in Stillwater to officially kick off the first Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) conference on the Oklahoma State University campus Friday evening in the Student Union Little Theater.
Michael Cich, Student Government Association senator and journalism and broadcasting senior, attended DeGeneres’ speech and said he agreed with her message.
“I thought she had a simple message — people should be loved regardless of who they are, and I think everyone deserves an equal chance,” he said. “That’s a good message to spread.”
The conference, which concluded Saturday night with a dance, has been dubbed a success by those who organized it.
Chris Guest, human resource management senior and co-chair of the Sexual Orientation Diversity Association, said the conference went “really well.”
“I think it went really wonderful,” he said. “I was very pleased with the turnout in the workshops, the enthusiasm of the people there. I think it went really well.”
The conference featured a variety of workshops, taught by guest speakers, to help gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people deal with everyday challenges.
An estimated 60 people from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas attended, with guest speakers from various parts of the state and country. The highlight of the conference, as describe by its planners, was the dance in the Student Union Starlight Terrace Saturday.
“The dance was a good time for all of us to socialize,” Guest said. “It was the highlight and allowed us to all get together.”
Jeff Gersh, adviser for SODA, agreed that the dance was the best part about the conference.
“A large number of people turned out for the dance and stayed until the end at 1 a.m.,” he said. “There was no alcohol and everyone danced and talked — it was really nice.”
Gersh said the conference was a success because those who attended enjoyed themselves and learned information they will be able to take home with them.
“The participants really enjoyed themselves,” he said. “We had people tell us that they had a really good time and that they got a lot of information that helped them.”
Gersh said he was disappointed that some people had to cancel their reservations for the conference.
“As far as problems, there was some apathy and cancellations,” he said. “But we had a lot of people turn out for the dance.”
The conference was a step toward highlighting issues that GLBT members face, Guest said.
“The main impact of the conference was to raise awareness of GLBT issues and SODA on campus,” Guest said.
Members of SODA planned the conference for more than a year and devoted thousands of hours to organizing it, but said it was worthwhile.
“I definitely think it was worth the effort,” Guest said. “I mean, it was very trying at times. I was worn out, but I knew when I took on the job of conference coordinator that there was going to be a lot of work.
“I did not expect anything less than that, but I had a lot of fun. It was a good learning experience for me.”
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