Oklahoma Institute for Duty to Journalism

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2017 Archive - page 2

30 years of OKC Pride brings changes, new challenges

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Pride parade participants offer a colorful message. The OKC Pride celebration culminated in a parade on Sunday, June 25 in Northwest Oklahoma City. Photo by Katelynn Mansfield/OIDJ

OKLAHOMA CITY – More than a thousand spectators and revelers lined the streets of Northwest Oklahoma City on June 25 for the city’s 30th annual Pride Parade and celebration of the LGBTQ community. Part celebration of progress and part commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall uprising that kicked off the U.S. gay rights movement, Pride 2017 offered an opportunity for some locals to reflect on the evolution of the LGBTQ movement.

OU’s LGBTQ Lounge provides safe space

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Students at The University of Oklahoma use this inclusive lounge as a place to socialize and study. Photo by Gigi Robertson/OIDJ

In April 2016, a sign was posted on the door of a bathroom located at the Cube, a drive-thru convenience store in Norman that said, “No Trans-gender zone.” Seven months later, during Oklahoma State University’s “OU Hate Week,” a banner reading “DeDe Westbrook & Baker Mayfield bang dudes” was on display at the OSU student union. There are roughly 26 bills being considered by the Oklahoma Legislature that will in some way limit, discriminate or threaten the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Anti-censorship advocates seek new protections of student speech

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Across the country advocates for student free speech are pushing for new laws to combat censorship and protect free speech for high school and college students. In about 30 states, student speech advocates are pushing forward legislation that would roll back a 1988 Supreme Court ruling that empowered school administrators to strongly regulate student expression. The multi-state effort is broadly called New Voices.

Inspired by court case, 2 area Native American women act to stand ground

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Johna James

Two Oklahoma women are working to raise awareness about an often misunderstood federal law regarding the adoption of Native American children. Standing Our Ground for Children, formed in July 2013 by Nicky Michael, who is Delaware, and Johna James, who is Chickasaw, aims to be a voice for families affected when the Indian Child Welfare Act is ignored or belittled. The act helps keep Native children with their tribe, a family member or at least placed in a home that shares their culture.

Sibling rivalry: Brothers take on comedy in Norman and OKC

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Poster for Villain: The Musical Improv Troupe From left to right: Buck Vrazel, Cristela Carrizales, Raychel Winstead, Stephanie Bidelspach, Clint Vrazel. Photos courtesy of Buchanan Vrazel

Buchanan “Buck” and Clint Vrazel were doing improv long before they even knew what improv was. Playing silly games and making up songs with their friends, the twins had no idea that what they were doing would become a significant part of the Oklahoma performing arts scene. “We were just messing around,” Buck said. “We didn’t know it was called improv or acting. That was the word we discovered later. We were just messing around, making up songs and making up games and that was just normal. We saw improv later and thought ‘Oh, this feels familiar.’”

OU student talks about journey from ‘misfit’ status to campus leader

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Jay Tyus, the president of the OU Queer Student Association. Photo by Cat Gonzales/OIDJ.

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.

OU students and staff work to address campus hunger

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Taking the last of his environmental science books off his shelf, Adam Lifsics works to fit an 11-year career into a series of boxes. Lifsics, Norman High School’s 2016 teacher of the year, is leaving Oklahoma in July for Terra Nova High School, a project-based learning school in Beaverton, Oregon. Though he says he and his wife are staying afloat despite cuts to education in Oklahoma, Lifsics worries that Oklahoma’s financial struggles could impact his family in the future. “Right now, I’m OK (financially). We don’t have kids,” Lifsics said. “But if we want to start a family, money becomes…

New law silences pipeline protest

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Protesters of the proposed Diamond Pipeline have found their voices silenced since a law signed by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin took effect in May. The Diamond Pipeline is being built from Cushing to Memphis, Tennessee, by Plains All American Pipeline LP and Valero Energy Corp. The pipeline’s website said construction began in 2016 and will be complete this year.

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