Members of Shades, a group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of color, meets every other Wednesday for discussion of the political and the personal.

At the most recent meeting, the group discussed marriage equality, Proposition 8 and growing up in the black church.

“What in the world is Proposition 8?” someone asked amid groans from the others in the circle.

“Wait a minute, that’s why we’re here,” said Kelvin LaGarde, a fourth-year in agribusiness and applied economics and co-president of the group.

He then launched into an explanation of the recent court case involving the referendum that repealed the California Supreme Court’s decision to allow gay marriage.

The group started at Ohio State in the fall, but Evan Robinson, a fourth-year in social work, founded the original chapter at Ohio University in 2005. Robinson transferred to OSU and is now the co-president of the group with LaGarde.

The discussion of what one member called “baby steps toward marriage” brought up mention of previous court rulings such as Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed racial segregation in public schools.

“It’s important to know your history,” LaGarde said.

“There’s a lot in the history of the civil rights movement that would guide the GLBT movement,” he continued.

After discussing politics, the group turned more personal, with many sharing stories of growing up in the black church.

“The black church is one of the quintessential establishments of the black community,” LaGarde said, but also noted that it could be “the main blockade” between black gays and lesbians and the rest of the community.

Robinson said he felt like a token after he came out his freshman year at OU. He said he was usually the only black person at the gay student groups’ meeting and the only gay person at the black student groups’ meetings.

“I always felt out of place. I felt invisible in a sense,” he said.
At first Shades consisted only of two people other than himself. Meetings were informal, he said, usually just hanging out, grabbing food and studying together.

But through “the powers of Facebook,” the group blossomed to nearly 30 members and became a “pioneering” group.

Members participated in National Day of Silence campaigns and brought in guest speakers. They were also featured in The Advocate, a national GLBT magazine.

“There was nothing like it on campus,” Robinson said. “We became a true advocating force.”

Robinson said the name Shades represents the dual identity that GLBT people of color face.

Members “may find themselves stuck in between, [in] an area in those shades of gray,” he said. But the name also suggests that the group members, themselves, are all different shades. All races and sexual orientations are welcome at meetings.

At the end of each meeting the members all place their hands into the circle and chant: “We will be seen. We will be heard.”
“It means not just being acknowledged. Not just tolerated, but nurtured by the community we should be part of,” Robinson said to explain the group’s tagline.

“We’re pushing through.”

But Robinson and LaGarde said the response from other black student groups at OSU has been slow. LaGarde said the group is planning a dialogue with the wider African-American student community on campus to “bridge the divide between the GLBT and African-American communities.”

In particular, LaGarde said they were focusing on starting discussions with the historically black Greek organizations on campus.

He said he hoped it would be an experience of “learning, healing and understanding” between the two groups.

Jaman Dunn, a second-year in vocal performance, has been attending meetings since last quarter. He said he appreciated the space to discuss politics and the support group atmosphere.

As for the future of the group, he said he sees Shades “becoming a larger voice on campus.”

There are already plans to help establish similar organizations at the University of Akron and the University of Cincinnati.

LaGarde said he would like to take the group — “the message and the movement” — national. “I see this just growing.”