When alumnus and Trustee Emeritus Bob Cory ’63 took note of The Storm King School’s new Alumni Speaker Series recently, he made an offer to host a conversation with LGBTQ alumni and their friends. Bob, who has been with his husband for 38 years now, said he would like to see the LGBTQ alumni community come to know and support one other. On March 4, he joined forces with alumna Rachel Kara Perez ’04 to lead a virtual conversation with a dozen alumni and friends spanning the class years 1963 to 2016.

Participants shared experiences that varied with the times. One participant, who graduated in the 1970s, said that he thought he was the only gay student there at the time, only later to discover other schoolmates.  Another from that decade commented: “It was the beginning of the sexual revolution, with the Stonewall movement having only recently been founded. If I had decided to come out then, it would have been okay.  SKS was a utopian kind of place at that time, with students accepted regardless of race, socioeconomic status, religion, or sexual orientation. If you had been bullied elsewhere, it would not have happened here on the Mountain.”

One young alumna transferred to SKS because she had been bullied at her public school, describing the amount of energy it took each day to defend herself, and who she was.  When she transferred to SKS, she was more than ready to take on the same fight, but much to her amazement, being out as a lesbian was a non-issue. “With that eliminated, I was able to come into my own, relax, and develop my interests and myself academically,” she said.

Another participant explained that, until recently, there was an active LGBTQ student group, but, it seems that isn’t needed now because there is acceptance. “If the need ever arises, there is support to be had, and reestablishing a group is always possible.”

Each person participated in the discussion as they chose. Some joined the Zoom gathering to see schoolmates, some sharing deeply personal stories.  An alumnus with a twin brother and a father of a gay son also shared their experiences and desire to be fully supportive.

“We all had a very enjoyable evening,” Bob Cory said afterwards. “I loved the age diversity of the attendees. Almost everyone was able to connect with someone else of their generation. I was surprised that so much of the conversation was centered on SKS rather than more generic coming out stories, and the like. Good for the School!  As we were signing off, a couple of people suggested that this could become an annual event!”