A series of late-night calls persuaded Michael Evans to get involved in issues that affect the gay community.
"Many of my friends from my freshman year on up would call me in the middle of the night and say, ‘I have something to tell you. I'm HIV-positive now,'" said Evans, 21, a junior at Winston-Salem State University.
"In my own community, the African-American and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning), nobody really wants to acknowledge them and help them. It's my responsibility as my brother's keeper to put myself out there."
Evans, who is studying psychology and molecular biology, is active in the school's Gay-Straight Student Alliance, and is a peer health educator for the school's office of student development.
Being openly gay at WSSU hasn't been easy for Evans, who grew up in Sampson County. His first roommate requested a transfer. He said he has also been called derisive names.
Although such issues shake his confidence, a quick handshake with President Obama recently strengthened Evans' resolve.
He was among several students and officials from historically black colleges and universities who were invited to the White House last month to watch Obama sign an executive order that will make more federal money and support available to historically black colleges and universities in the 2011 federal budget.
Chevara Orrin, a staff member at WSSU and one of the advisers to the school's Gay-Straight Student Alliance, was asked by a White House staffer to choose a student to represent the gay community. The staffer, Brian Bond, had seen a presentation by the alliance in November and was impressed that it had successfully lobbied the WSSU board of trustees to include sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy.
"Without hesitation, I thought of Michael," Orrin said. "He is a stellar student leader."
While waiting in a ballroom for Obama to appear, Evans and another student were ushered into another room. Evans feared that he was about to get admonished for doing something wrong.
Suddenly, Obama burst through the room, extended his hand and congratulated him for his leadership.
"I was under the impression I'd see him, but to personally meet him, I had no idea," Evans said. "I was overflowed with so many emotions, from being nervous to excited."
From the White House, Evans traveled to Raleigh to accept a scholarship from the N.C. Human Rights Campaign, which works for civil rights for the gay community.
For Evans, the trip gave him the courage to continue fighting for the rights of the gay community.
"This trip filled some of those voids. I had a lot of questions. ‘Is it worth it?' And my answer came," Evans said. "It was a big ‘Yes.'"
lodonnell@wsjournal.com
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