At first there was no activism, no planning and no teamwork. Nowadays the Queer Student Association, or QSA, at The University of Oklahoma is becoming an active organization.
Jay Tyus, a 20-year-old third-year student, transgender male and president of QSA, has come from a harsh background but hopes for a good future.
Growing up, Tyus said he had many problems with family, old friends and those he encountered.
“We were just labeled as misfits by teachers, school system and society,” Tyus said. He desired community so much that he even joined a gang-like “crew.” Now, he doesn’t talk to people in that crew anymore.
“This is the family worth dying for,” Tyus said about QSA.
“Traumatizing” is how Tyus described his past. “The deputies liked to have ‘chats’ with me whenever I stepped out of the house,” Tyus said about the police in his neighborhood. He couldn’t escape problems at home or even go to the park, he said, “I was stuck in my room all day every day.”
Tyus went through many stages of finding himself.
“I thought I was always limited to colored people when dating,” Tyus said. He talked about how race, sexuality and gender played into his life “because I dressed as a very masculine girl (so) I had to date girls,” Tyus said, “I discovered I was pansexual when I was in high school at the Gay-Straight Alliance there.”
Tyus then joined a life-changing program.
“NJROTC saved my life,” Tyus said of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. The Corps made him realize that he had leadership qualities, which eventually brought him to the decision to head up QSA.
Tyus came to OU because of family tradition. His parents went to OU and met at the university.
“When I first got here I was a hot mess,” Tyus said, explaining that before college he didn’t recognize his mental health issues. He talked to health professionals when he arrived at OU.
“Coming here is a blessing.”
When he first joined QSA, it wasn’t the most organized. “It was a mess and we lost members because of that,” Tyus said, “I won’t let that happen, not again.”
Tyus is planning many events and educational opportunities for the program. “My plans are to keep it organized and allow more opportunities to be spoken about,” said Tyus.
One such event the group plans is Black Trans Lives Matter in February 2018.
