For Those Who Think of Indiana as Being Straightforward

Consider please Indiana school cancels play with LGBTQ characters so students produce it themselves

Not long after, some students connected with Fort Wayne Pride, the organization that puts on Pride events for the LGBTQ community, and began planning to put the play on independently. On Thursday, May 4, students launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the play. In the first twelve hours, the campaign had reached $10,000, with a goal of $50,000.

In a video announcing the fundraising campaign, several students explained the importance of putting on ‘Marian,’ regardless of a few parents who didn’t agree with the LGBTQ characters.

One student, Tristan Wasserman, a senior at Carroll who was vocal in support of continuing to put on the play when it was originally canceled, announced the independent production in the video.

“No matter what the reason, we’ve decided to put on the canceled play ourselves, along with some supportive adults in the community," Wasserman said. "We’ve got to fight back against the bullies.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the campaign has reached nearly $75,000 in donations.

Freeman said she had no idea what to expect when they put the campaign up. She knew it was asking for a lot of money and wasn’t sure if the community would rally behind them.

“Seeing that people have been so generous and so wanting to help us out, it’s heartwarming because I just didn’t expect it,” Freeman said.

We're not all close-minded bumpkins. 

 The play will run for one performance at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at the Foellinger Outdoor Theater. Tickets are set to go on sale next week.

Let us hope the play goes well. What if the play goes on, it is a success, and the City of Fort Wayne remains standing rather than being struck down by thunderbolts from on high?

sch 5/13