Local News

LGBTQ+ Oklahomans share personal stories, honor recent losses at capitol

KOSU | By Lionel Ramos

Published March 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM CDT

An LGBTQ+ rights activist shares a story of being raised in a religious household and coming out to their family March. 26, at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Their speech was one of about a dozen during an annual storytelling event hosted by Freedom Oklahoma and other advocacy groups called "The People's Hearing." It's meant to bring the LGBTQ+ community together in solidarity and remembrance.

Members of Oklahoma’s LGBTQ+ community came together for an annual gathering at the Oklahoma State Capitol Tuesday. “The People’s Hearing,” is a storytelling event aimed at fostering solidarity among trans and gender-nonconforming Oklahomans. This year, like the last, a main theme was remembering nonbinary and trans youth lost to suicide.

The crowd of about 50 people was somber, angry and reflective, in light of the recent death of nonbinary Owasso teenager Nex Benedict.

Still, at “The People’s Hearing,” hosted by Freedom Oklahoma and a handful of other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, they took turns sharing stories and anecdotes of how their lives intersect with the need to advocate for LGBTQ+ Oklahomans: specifically, nonbinary and trans children.

About a dozen people spoke. They ranged from young people telling stories of coming out and finding validation in others to old folks sharing their stories of transition, sometimes to a better-suited gender identity, sometimes to a mindset of acceptance.

A collection of short and personal stories was available to pick up at the annual LGBTQ+ advocacy event "The People's Hearing," March 26, at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

RPC Perez, a 29-year-old from Tulsa, was among them. “I just wanted to land on like some positive reflections that have happened in my life in the last year,” Perez said. “In hopes that you all will see that the work that you are doing does impact people in positive ways. At the end of the day, people power is everything.”

They told the story of attending the same event last year and feeling seen for who they truly are, without needing to provide an explanation or evidence. It pushed them to be more involved in generating what they call “People Power.”

Perez thanked the event organizers and everyone in attendance for participating in advocacy for marginalized Oklahomans. They pointed to Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, as a source of inspiration.

“You give me so much strength to wake up every day,” Perez told Turner. “You getting in here and just showing up every day – it may not feel like a lot of wins – but it does a lot for our soul, our hearts.”

When Turner — the only openly nonbinary lawmaker in Oklahoma — took the podium, they expressed gratitude for their supporters in House District 88 and beyond. They also expressed the need for events like the “The People’s Hearing,” especially amid increased outward hatred toward LGBTQ+ people.

"Allyship is bound in uncomfortable action," Turner said. "I think what several folks have mentioned today that I can only echo is that our lives are difficult, and made so every day by the policy thought of, spoken of and passed in this building."