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rendering of blood cells traveling in a vein

MFP Voices

U.S. Blood Supply At 10-Year Low Heading Into Year 3 of Pandemic

In January 2022, the American Red Cross declared its first-ever national blood crisis. A joint statement by the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association said that the “severity and duration of this shortage could significantly jeopardize the ability of health care providers to meet the many urgent needs of our patients and communities.”

Anna Nagurney February 16, 2022

Culture

Ridgeland Mayor’s Plan to Ban ‘Homosexual Materials’ from Library Inspires UM Religion Talk

Professor of Religion Mary Thurlkill hosted a brown bag “Religion for Lunch” conversation on Feb. 1, 2022, to discuss Ridgeland (Miss.) Mayor Gene McGee’s demand that the local public library purge LGBTQ+ books or not receive the $110,000 in funding they are due. Several students, faculty and staff members attended the discussion, including Associate Religion Professor Fei Lan.

Grace Marion February 4, 2022

MFP Voices

UM Law Student: Ridgeland Public Library Books Taught Me It Was OK to be Gay

CJ Winship (she/her) shares how Ridgeland Public Library gave her the resources she needed to reassure that she wasn’t broken just because she was gay. The representation of LGBTQ people like her in books helped CJ be at ease with just being herself.

CJ Winship January 27, 2022

MFP Voices

The History of ‘Coming Out’: From Secret Gay Code to Popular Political Protest

At the first Gay Liberation March in New York City in June 1970, one of the organizers stated that “we’ll never have the freedom and civil rights we deserve as human beings unless we stop hiding in closets and in the shelter of anonymity.”

Abigail C. Saguy June 8, 2021

Two men in bed under a bright red blanket

MFP Voices

Why Some LGBTQ Americans Prefer Rural Life to Urban ‘Gayborhoods’

Not all gay people live in cities. Demographers estimate that 15% to 20% of the United States’ total LGBTQ population—between 2.9 million and 3.8 million people—live in rural areas. These millions of understudied LGBTQ residents of rural America are the subject of my latest academic research project.
My study results, now under peer review for publication in an academic journal, found that many LGBTQ people in rural areas view their sexual identity substantially differently from their urban counterparts—and question the merits of urban gay life.

Christopher T. Conner March 17, 2021

a photo of Tate Reeves signing a bill with lawmakers standing behind him

In-Depth

‘Lives of Trans Kids in Danger’ As Reeves Signs Sports Bill, Org Says

LGBTQ rights advocates say that Gov. Tate Reeves put transgender teen and young adult lives “in danger” today by signing Senate Bill 2536, “The Mississippi Fairness Act,” banning transgender students at public schools and colleges from participating in sports teams that match their gender.

Ashton Pittman March 11, 2021

Senator Angela Hill speaks on the Senate floor in 2020

In-Depth

Gov. Reeves to Sign Anti-Trans Athletes Bill Despite Risks to Economy, College Sports

Transgender teen and adult athletes in Mississippi could be forced out of sports teams that align with their gender or give up sports altogether after the Mississippi House approved Senate Bill 2536, sending it to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk.

Ashton Pittman March 4, 2021

News

‘Appalling’: UM Provost Decries ‘Hurtful’ Emails About Black Women, Gay Alum

Days after the Mississippi Free Press first reported on emails involving a University of Mississippi dean that included remarks disparaging to Black women students and a famous gay alum, UM Provost Noel Wilkin denounced the remarks in a YouTube video.

Ashton Pittman August 7, 2020

Shows Sammy Moon with LGBTQ Fund volunteers

In-Depth

‘It Makes Us Feel Human’: LGBTQ Fund Fights for a Mississippi ‘Without Alienation’

LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi founder Sammy Moon considered moving away with his partner amid a raft of anti-LGBTQ legislation, but decided to stay and use his experience in philanthropy to make it a better place. The fund envisions a Mississippi in which “all LGBTQ Mississippians will live safely, openly and without alienation”—the opposite of Moon’s own experiences growing up.

Ashton Pittman and Clay B. Morris July 2, 2020

U.S. Blood Supply At 10-Year Low Heading Into Year 3 of Pandemic

Ridgeland Mayor’s Plan to Ban ‘Homosexual Materials’ from Library Inspires UM Religion Talk

UM Law Student: Ridgeland Public Library Books Taught Me It Was OK to be Gay

The History of ‘Coming Out’: From Secret Gay Code to Popular Political Protest

Why Some LGBTQ Americans Prefer Rural Life to Urban ‘Gayborhoods’

‘Lives of Trans Kids in Danger’ As Reeves Signs Sports Bill, Org Says

Gov. Reeves to Sign Anti-Trans Athletes Bill Despite Risks to Economy, College Sports

‘Appalling’: UM Provost Decries ‘Hurtful’ Emails About Black Women, Gay Alum

‘It Makes Us Feel Human’: LGBTQ Fund Fights for a Mississippi ‘Without Alienation’

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