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Billiee Pendleton-Parker is one of the organizers for Atlanta events associated with the ‘Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights’ campaign Oct. 7-13. (Photo courtesy of Pendleton-Parker)
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Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights
Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. Center
449 Auburn Ave.
www.sevenstraightnights.org
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HOME > COMMUNITY > COMMUNITY FEATURE
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THROUGHOUT HER TWO DECADES WORKING at Georgia Tech, Billiee Pendleton-Parker has become an adviser and confidant to generations of gay and lesbian Yellow Jackets.
“I do a lot of informal advising — people somehow just seem to find me,” says Pendleton-Parker, who is heterosexual and works as assistant director of the President’s Scholarship Program at Georgia Tech.
Since arriving at Georgia Tech in the late 1980s, Pendleton-Parker has seen the campus and surrounding community become more welcoming, but she adds, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
“Even though there has been incredible progress and so many more of the young people are able to be 100 percent out, there’s still so many who aren’t out, or who may be out in the collegial environment, but not to their family or in the work environment,” Pendleton-Parker says.
“We’re not where we’re going to be yet [when it comes to society accepting gay people], but we’re getting there,” she says.
Pendleton-Parker hopes Atlanta takes a few more steps toward “getting there” with an Oct. 7 rally at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center that is part of a weeklong national campaign known as “Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights.”
Created by the gay rights organizations Soulforce and Atticus Circle, the “Seven Straight Nights” event calls for candlelight vigils to take place in more than two-dozen cities across the U.S. from Oct. 7-13, where straight allies will “demand equality for LGBT Americans.”
Pendleton-Parker and fellow Atlanta organizer Alana Zavett have planned three hours of speakers and musicians for Atlanta’s “Seven Straight Nights” observance, which will include King’s “I Have A Dream” speech played over loudspeaker.
“With the rich history Atlanta has in civil rights, we wanted to focus on delivering Martin Luther King’s message of the ‘beloved community’ being open to all people,” Zavett says.
ATLANTA ORGANIZERS ALSO hope to recruit a member of the King family to speak at the Oct. 7 vigil, as well as attract speakers from Soulforce, the Anti-Defamation League and local non-profit organizations that serve gay men and lesbians. Already confirmed to speak at the vigil are gay Rabbi Joshua Lesser of Congregation Bet Haverim, and Stephanie Ray, associate dean of students and director of diversity programs at Georgia Tech.
The event will also include personal reflections by straight allies in attendance, testimony from members of Georgia Tech’s Pride Alliance and a performance by local singer Ari Zelig. With this being the first year for “Seven Straight Nights,” organizers are unsure how many people will turn out, but they have no doubts about the importance of the event.
“Our vision is just to serve as a catalyst for peace and education for all of Atlanta,” Zavett says. “We, of course, hope lots of people come, but if we can touch a small handful of people who can come and feel the support of the community and get resources — we will feel successful if we can provide that kind of network for those people.”
Pendleton-Parker was attracted to the “Seven Straight Nights” campaign because of the chance to be part of a new voice in the national discussion about gay rights.
“For many years, I’ve been involved with different efforts — on a smaller and informal scale — to help deal with the inequalities the GLBT community faces,” Pendleton-Parker says. “It’s always fun to be with something on the ground floor, the inaugural year.”
IN ADDITION TO WORKING IN the office of the President’s Scholarship Program and teaching courses at Georgia Tech, Pendleton-Parker serves as the faculty adviser for several student organizations, including three gay groups — the Pride Alliance, Safe Space and Georgia Tech C.O.W. (Coming Out Week). She’s also a board member of the Atlanta chapter of PFLAG.
Pendleton-Parker has been friendly with gay people for longer than she can remember, but the “tipping point” for her identifying as a straight ally came in the late ’80s when she befriended a gay administrator at Tech.
“He was closeted because he had to be at that time with his job, and that always bothered me,” says Pendleton-Parker, who believes non-gay people may be more receptive to calls for tolerance from other heterosexuals.
“I think perceptions … can absolutely be different if the message is coming from a straight person,” says Pendleton-Parker, who adds that it appears she has no “vested interest” in fighting gay discrimination.
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