Whatever comes to mind when you think of the University, mass communication junior Aiden Craver wants to challenge that association with his upcoming documentary, “Southern Pride.”
In development since last year, “Southern Pride” will give an overview of what it’s like to be an LGBTQ student at the University. Craver wants his passion project to show the experience of students whose voices aren’t always heard in a large southern school, he said.
Craver, who identifies as a transgender man, wants to focus more on gender than sexuality, but sees the two as overlapping, he said. Craver’s mission is to include any student who feels as if they are overlooked or aren’t traditionally given visibility or leadership opportunities.
The idea for the film initially came from Craver’s personal experience at the University.
“I didn’t want to come to LSU because I was just coming out and becoming comfortable with my own sexual identity and gender identity,” Craver said. “I was very nervous that I was going to get here and find a community that didn’t support me. I can happily say that wasn’t the case at all.”
Craver wasn’t alone in having this mindset. Many of his peers were also unaware of how welcoming the University community was until they arrived, he said. By creating his documentary, Craver hopes to change that narrative.
He aspires to portray an open and inviting persona for the University by shining a light on one of its strongest communities, Craver said.
“I want there to be a little gay kid or a little trans kid who’s looking for colleges, and they seriously consider LSU as an option because they know it’s a community that’s going to support them — not degrade them, not use inappropriate slurs towards them and not question their place in a restroom based on how they look,” Craver said.
He hopes to ignite dialogue not only among the University community but on a larger scale as well.
With “Southern Pride,” Craver wants to encourage discussion of gender as a spectrum, especially in an academic setting. Students aren’t taught to see gender and sexuality as fluid in the classroom, he said.
Although these topics may be difficult to talk about, Craver believes he’s been given a special platform as a trans man and would be wrong not to use it, he said.
Craver also hopes his documentary will attract University administrative attention to inspire action, he said, such as posting signage for gender-neutral restrooms on campus and allowing students to use their preferred name on their Tiger Card.
“I’m hoping that the administration — if they do see [the documentary] — will notice that they do have students here, students who matter, students who are passionate, students whose educations are being hindered because they sit in their classroom, and they don’t know where to go to the bathroom,” Craver said.
“Southern Pride” will feature interviews with LGBTQ University students discussing their experiences on campus as minorities. Craver plans to interview as many students as possible, hoping to represent every aspect of the LGBTQ community on campus.
In order to film his documentary, Craver will use the University’s resources. He hopes to release it by late 2018.
Regardless, Craver said he wants the finished product to be something he will be proud of, he said. He hopes his documentary will provide people with a better understanding of the University’s small but mighty LGBTQ community.
“I don’t want to add to the clutter of the world,” Craver said, “I want to create things that inspire people to do better and learn more about the world. If we all took a pledge to learn something that we don’t know about, I think the world would be exponentially better.”