Our first day at the Knox County Fair

I am so pumped! We had an incredible first day hosting the Gay-Straight Alliance booth at the Knox County Fair. There were three of us--Tony, Kate, and me--manning the booth today. I have been inspired to set up this new blog to commemorate the experience and share the many wonderful exchanges we had with visitors during the event. Here is a sample of some of the things that we heard today as people approached our table:

"I'm so glad you are here. . . . I did not know we had anything like this."

"My sister is gay."

"I have a friend who is gay."

"A lot of people in my family are gay. My mom and my aunt are gay. Another aunt I have is bisexual."

"I saw you in the Pride Parade and I thought, 'how cool, I did not know there was anything like that in Knox County.'"

"I like your rainbow."

"I have a lot of gay and lesbian friends. . . . It is a shame people can be so ignorant. . . . Thank you for being here."

"I'm so glad you're here."

"This is so cool."

One man shared his story having lived in the closet for the past ten years and is just now coming to terms with living as who he truly is.

A youngster who attends East Knox HS was delighted to see our booth and told us of the difficulties he faced in trying to set up a GSA at his school.

Many of our fair booth neighbors came by and introduced themselves before the crowds showed up. All were so kind and supportive.

We also gathered at least five new e-mail addresses to add to our main mailing list and some ten FIRED cards (an initiative spearheaded by Equality Ohio).

Overall, I think it was a great start to the fair week.