by Jessica Carreras
Nicholas Kobel is a 20-year-old is from Tawas City, a small town on the east coast of Michigan, about 50 miles north of Saginaw. Though he has since begun college and will attend the University of Michigan in the fall, Kobel wanted to give back to his hometown – and has done so by beginning the Tawas Area LGBT Community to create safe space and discussion for him all all his peers.
1) What was it like growing up gay in a conservative town like Tawas City or East Tawas?
I came from a pretty liberal family who I knew would accept me for who I am eventually. Other certain people weren't so lucky. My first boyfriend came from a strongly traditional Catholic family. He imagined if his mother found out she would completely disown him. He, along with myself, were living in constant fear that if we told someone, it would somehow get back to our family, so we simply kept our secrets to ourselves.
All in all, though, it wasn't as hard growing up in Tawas as one might expect. I think this greatly varies in other families, however. Subcultures derived from masculine-type activities flourish in this community, and although these subcultures do not intrinsically channel anti-gay attitudes and feelings, the social atmosphere certainly correlates the two.
2) How have things changed since then for LGBT students in your area?
There is a large age gap between my oldest sister and I. She graduated from Tawas Area High School in 1995 – myself, 2007. She recalled all of the terrible things students did to suspected gay people, not even actual homosexuals. It really wasn't that bad, though. I was rarely – if ever – called a fag to my face, though I was told the baseball team was making fun of me one day.
The increased media coverage may have had a positive impact on the social values in this area.
I think that within the next five years, students will be more comfortable coming out more in high school and that there will be support from many faculty members, as well as more strongly enforced rules regarding discrimination and ill-treatment of queer students.
3) Why did you decide to create a Facebook group for LGBTQ people in that area?
Social networking groups provide a means to get words out quickly to people. I like Facebook especially, because your name and face become attached to your profile as you network; therefore, when I created this group, we weren't hiding anything. This isn't a secret online community. This isn't a place for hook-ups. This isn't a place to denigrate queers anonymously. I believe the name-and-face profile may leave a strong impression on students who don't have a strong opinion about these matters.
4) Since you created the group a month ago, it has grown to almost 100 members. Are you surprised at the quick rate of growth?
I am astonished at the group's growth rate. I invited many friends from my high school with the assumption that they would join, but I was very surprised that not only did they join, they invited people on their own, and then those people invited people – the snowball effect. What's more is that friends and acquaintances have personally contacted me to commend my doings and even offering to help out with whatever they can. It's really been great.
5) What are your hopes for the LGBT community in Tawas City and the surrounding areas?
I have two goals that I would like to focus on for 2009. The first goal is letting it be known that there are queer people in the area. Residents of the community are so unaware of our existence. Perhaps they imagine there are gay people, but not here. I want to chisel away at heteronormativity and let people understand that queer people really do exist, and they are living right next to you in silence.
My second goal is to propagate our existence as something good for the community. We can do this all by giving back to the community. We can volunteer our time and energy to improve the environment we live in while elevating our own status.
Some other goals I am interested in are making it easier for queer people to come out, a Gay-Straight Alliance, and an expansion into neighboring communities. I think the organization has the potential to make a deep impact on the social attitudes of this community so long as we avoid such topics as gay marriage. This is not a political movement, and I do not want to give any individual in this town a reason to hate, hinder or halt us.
To learn more, visit http://www.tawas-lgbtq.blogspot.com. Also, find the Tawas Area LGBT Community on Facebook.
