Even Zollars, a gay man in his late 50s who has lived around Parsons for almost his entire life, had never heard of Gilbert Baker until 2017. And thats not because Zollars has stayed in the closet.
Another reason Zollars had never heard of Gilbert Baker until 2017 was that no one had made any serious effort to honor him until Aaron Casserly Stewart was elected to the city commission. Stewart was an anomaly in Parsons for two reasons.
d never felt seen, never felt accepted. I also heard from local residents who were absolutely thrilled to see these flags to honor Gilbert Baker, to honor their son or daughter who is gay, to honor their family and make them visible and appreciated in the place they call home, Matthew wrote.
house with his wife in Liberty, Missouri, a while back but still drives to his hometown for work during the week, finds a place near the yearbook table to make a short speech. He explains why a journalist is here asking questions about Gilbert Baker and encourages everyone to share their memories.
But for some of those young people, Parsons still feels like it did for Gilbert Baker. I think the L, G, B part of the spectrum is becoming old hat, in a way, Zollars says. But thats not the case for his trans, non-binary and queer students. Their abuse is so massive right now.