Outrageous Oral, the LGBTQ+ local history series sponsored by The Dallas Way, featured young activists under the age of 30 at its most recent event.
To encourage regular attendees to invite younger people to attend, former City Councilman Ed Oakley pledged $1,000 for each attendee in their 20s. At the end of the evening, he wrote a check for $20,000 to support the work of The Dallas Way.
The three speakers were attorney Haley Ablon, DSQO founder Javier Enriquez and Abounding Prosperity staff member Christopher Walker.
DSQO is the Dallas Social Queer Organization that produces dozens of events a year. Enriquez described his journey. His parent inspired him to dream, he said. But they also sent him for conversion therapy. He attended Resource Center’s FUSE program for young gay men and later worked for the program before founding DSQO.
Walker described himself as a preacher’s kid.
“I was always a bit different,” he said.
After he was diagnosed with HIV, Walker moved to Dallas from Memphis, got a job in HIV research at UT Southwestern and currently works at Abounding Prosperity.
Ablon interned at Lambda Legal and said she never had to worry about family acceptance. She works for a law firm and said she is just learning how to contribute to the community.
The Dallas Way chose these three speakers because they will make a difference in the LGBTQ community and we’ll be hearing more about them.
— David Taffet