Cat Gonzales

At first there was no activism, no planning and no teamwork. Nowadays the Queer Student Association, or QSA, at The University of Oklahoma is becoming an active organization.

Jay Tyus, a 20-year-old third-year student, transgender male and president of QSA, has come from a harsh background but hopes for a good future.

Bethany Mann, a senior at University of Oklahoma, feels stuck in the middle of two well-known groups: heterosexual and LGBT+.

“For me, personally since I kind of pass as a straight person, it feels like I have one foot there and one foot out with everybody else,” Mann said.

Imagine sitting in class and seeing a girl drawing while the class is going on. You sit and wonder why she is ignoring the teacher, but she is drawing because it is helping her stay steady.

Cat Gonzales, 15, is an upcoming sophomore at Bartlesville (Okla.) High School. Cat is involved in journalism, but drawing has been a part of her life since elementary school. She always found time to do it when she had finished her work, and it has been a means of relaxation and therapy that helps her cope with anxiety.