Who We Are
Okra OUT is Delta State University’s annual pride event celebrating the diversity and culture of LGBTQ+ folks in our community. We hosted our first event in 2017 and continue this annual tradition that includes musical expression, dance, art, and spoken word. We firmly believe that our LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, students, and community members only enrich our culture here at Delta State and these events are meant as a celebration of love!
Mission Statement
Delta State University’s Okra Out Committee, in collaboration with Safe Spaces on campus, strives to create a safe and welcoming campus community so that all LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff can thrive. We aim to foster an environment that is inclusive, equitable, and intersectional. We are committed to the wellbeing of all LGBTQ+ members of our campus and work towards extending our positive environment to the community and across Mississippi.
Okra Out Front 2020 Events!
Storytime with a Queen
A fabulous reading of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want fore Christmas” read by Queen Audrey Ombre.
Zines
In 2019, the Okra Out committee began to continue the tradition. We began creating and distributing zines which contained stories, art, and more from Delta State students, faculty, staff, and community members. Zines are valuable social documents that provide a space and voice for the LGBTQ+community to express themselves.
Volume II
Volume I
Zine Submissions
Please submit your artwork and stories for Zines here!
Okra Out History
Previous Flyers
Previous Events
2019
Okra Out Resistance and History, the first drag show on campus honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
2018
Okra Out Resistance and History, the first drag show on campus honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
2017
Okra Out Front, a concert celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month.
Contact Information
If you wish to request information on the Committee and how to join or volunteer at events please contact our chair, Dr. Jacqueline Goldman.
A Huge Thanks to our 2020 Sponsors!
DSU Roberts-LaForge Library
DSU Office of Students Affairs
DSU Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
DSU Division of Language and Literature
DSU Division of Social Sciences and History
DSU Department of Music
DSU Canterbury Episcopal Ministry
Gay Chorus Deep South
Trailer for Gay Chorus Deep South
In response to a wave of discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws in Southern states and the divisive 2016 election, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus embarks on a tour of the American Deep South.
Led by Gay Chorus Conductor Dr. Tim Seelig and joined by The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir; the tour brings a message of music, love and acceptance, to communities and individuals confronting intolerance. Over 300 singers travelled from Mississippi to Tennessee through the Carolinas and over the bridge in Selma. They performed in churches, community centers and concert halls in hopes of uniting us in a time of difference. The journey also challenges Tim and other Chorus members who fled the South to confront their own fears, pain and prejudices on a journey towards reconciliation. The conversations and connections that emerge offer a glimpse of a less divided America, where the things that divide us; faith, politics, sexual identity are set aside by the soaring power of music, humanity and a little drag.
