Join the Impact

By Genevieve Buthod

Hey, what’s up cougs? It’s been a long week for everyone, I bet. Plenty of testing, and plenty of papers due. I’m a computer science major, and even I had quite a few papers to write! It’s getting ridiculous now that we’re near the end of the semester. Only two more weeks ‘til Thanksgiving break, and after that, only a couple more until the end! Exciting, definitely, but just as stressful.

To help ease the stress and get my mind off all the work due this coming week, I went up to the Lincoln Park Zoo with my friends on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and there were as many little kids running around as animals (My friend noted that it’s almost more fun to go the zoo to watch the people roaming free, rather than the animals in their pens). We were starving, so we walked from there all the way up to the Pick Me Up Café on north Clark, right past all the used book stores, vintage clothing shops, and trendy little cupcake joints between Lincoln Park and Belmont. On our way home, we stopped at the State/Lake transfer in the Loop, right by the Chicago Theater, and came across a student rally. Join the Impact-Chicago was holding a protest of transphobia and homophobia in the U.S., and they were trying to get the attention of major media sources by demonstrating right in front of the ABC-7 headquarters! Not sure if it was covered on the evening news or not, since we were there live, but hopefully it got at least a little media coverage. You can follow this link to learn more about that night, as well as other events hosted by Join the Impact: http://jointheimpactchicago.com/die-in-nov-6-2010.

It was truly powerful to be a part of the action that night, and to see how many people actually came out to show their pride, their support, and their shared humanity. As with any demo I have ever been to, though, there will always be a small, bitter minority ranting about the evil we are doing by supporting basic human rights. A man was screaming about how we’re all going to hell, and how God is going to be angry with us for--- telling passers-by about gay teen suicide prevention? [I think not…] More than anything, I was so happy that my friends and I were there to represent Saint Xavier, to show that this school cares about human dignity, and that SXU students are absolutely unafraid to go out and stand up for what they believe to be right.

Just a reminder: feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, or just want to talk about Saint Xavier. I’d be more than happy to have a conversation about what’s going on at school!

Keep reading, y’all.

-Genevieve


Genevieve Buthod is a freshman from St. Louis, MO. She is computer science major and a women's studies minor. Buthod is a vegan and part of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at Saint Xavier.Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.