Allies on Campus serves as safe zone for GLBT students
Being gay in Utah.
Joe, USU alumnus, said he returned from an LDS mission, started school and then realized he was gay. Perhaps more importantly, Joe, who asked to not have his last name printed, said a difficult part of the process was learning he could embrace that.
“With the religious aspects, you are scared to be anything other than normal for fear of what other people would say,” he said. “You are always judged, especially being gay. My parents came from a church standpoint so they knew what we were up against, so they said, ‘You can go to counseling and fight this.'”
Although Joe said a few months of counseling helped show him how to deal with his parents, Joe and the counselor came to the conclusion that he was not in a position to overcome homosexuality.
“I don’t feel like I need counseling for homosexuality,” Joe said. “But there are a few people out there who don’t want to accept it and want counseling to control tendencies. So if they want it, they should be allowed to have it and not be pushed to embrace their homosexuality. If they don’t want to, why should they have to?”
LuAnn Helms, psychologist at USU, said it is common for some people to think counseling will help solve a lifestyle like Joe’s.
“Just because they’re gay doesn’t mean they need therapy,” Helms said. “But counseling can help with the stress of discrimination.”
A few resources on campus, such as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Allies services and Allies on Campus have been created over the past few years, which serve as a safe zone for such individuals.
Maure Smith, program coordinator of GLBTA, said their services are like an umbrella for individuals looking for resources concerning nontraditional lifestyles. Resources include periodicals and a private research station to gather information. There is even a resource library with more than 600 items consisting of magazines, books and DVDs.
“It’s kind of sad, but some of these USU resources were discarded or defaced,” she said. “We needed a place to protect these resources.”
Smith said she also works with Allies on Campus. According to the Allies Web site, http://www.usu.edu/glsrc/allies/about.html, Allies on Campus is a network made up USU faculty, staff and students. The organization was developed from examples of other allies programs in effect at other schools in the nation.
Helms, training director at USU Counseling Center, said she helped develop Allies on Campus for USU.
“I was surprised USU didn’t have one,” she said.
After many hours of planning with a steering committee, Helms said the first official Allies seminar training happened in April 2004 and they have continued since then.
Joe said his resource of support was a guy he met online who helped Joe talk about his fears of church, friend and family discrimination. He also said he can see the advantage of such GLBT resources and wished there had been such strong resources when he was going to school at USU.
“It would have given me a more healthy environment to meet people, somewhere to go and to not be scared of the people I would come in contact with,” he said. “If you’re in a public library and you look at the homosexual section and maybe it’s placed right next to the Christian section, and someone comes in or one of your friends come in, oh shit.
“It just would have been somewhere to go and know people there don’t care. I could feel like I had friends that understand and accepted me for (homosexuality).
“It is a very scary thing when you want to live that way and if you don’t know if people will accept you.”
The members of the Allies on Campus provide support to GLBT students. Another purpose of the organization, according to the Web site, is to strive to reduce homophobia and heterosexism through education, advocacy, awareness and creating a network of allies.
Smith said to become an Allies member, individuals need to attend a three-hour seminar, which is offered four times during the semester. The seminar offers different training activities such as a panel of GLBT individuals who answer questions taken from the participants.
“We should attend for the same reason we would attend any other sensitivity training because we want to understand anyone different than ourselves,” she said.
Helms said the seminar is like “GLBT 101” and covers a wide variety of information in three hours. At the seminar, participants sign a contract, which states the responsibilities of the ally. Some responsibilities include openly declaring support for GLBT individuals, being comfortable with GLBT students, approaching them to discuss their issues and concerns, and to do their best to use inclusive language and avoid stereotyping.
“People should not assume that everyone is heterosexual,” Smith said. “When you see a ring on a person’s left hand, ask, ‘Oh do you have a partner?’ Use more inclusive language.”
Joe said asking someone if they are homosexual can be tough.
“If you’re their friend, do you need to know?” he said. “Does it matter? If you like that person, you’re not gonna care if they’re gay or not. “
However, if a student feels like they could ask their friend, Joe said to ask in a way that leaves the gender of the person ambiguous such as asking, “Are you dating anyone?” as opposed to “Do you have a girlfriend?” That way, Joe said an opportunity is left for the person to respond however they feel most comfortable.
An easy way for GLBT students to recognize allies is to look for an ALLY sticker. This sticker can be displayed in prominent places such as car windows, a work space or an apartment window and means this person has attended a seminar and signed an Allies contract.
The sticker is in the shape of a hazardous sign. Helms said this sticker was designed by a USU student to help represent GLBT safety and shelter. According to the Allies Web site, the sticker is mainly made up of a safety and bomb shelter sign which is symbolic for finding a safe haven with the sticker’s owner. Helms said the sticker can represent, among other things, a listening ear.
“It’s just knowing there’s someone they can talk to,” she said. “It’s easily identifiable.”
Smith said the first triangle on the sticker is pink to represent a symbol of gay pride.
“This pink triangle was actually assigned during the Holocaust to GLBT people,” Smith said.
The Web site states the pink triangle helps serve as a reminder of the gays and lesbians who were tortured and killed in concentration camps.
The second triangle on the sticker shows the rainbow flag. According to the Web site, this flag was designed in 1978 to serve as a symbol of gay and lesbian pride. Smith said the six-colored flag holds significance of unity for the gay community.
A third triangle is an equality symbol which is the logo for the Human Rights Campaign, according to the Web site.
Joe said the best way to treat GLBT students is like everyone else.
“Be yourself,” he said. “Depending on the individual, be mindful of that person if you say stuff like, ‘That’s gay.’ Be mindful and respectful, but don’t walk on eggshells. Befriend them like anyone else and befriend their partner. Whether you’re gay or straight, who cares? It’s a relationship. It’s uniform whoever you are with.”
A purpose of being an Allies member, according to the Allies registration form, is that members are committed to providing a “safe zone” for anyone dealing with sexual or gender orientation issues. A safe zone is considered a safe space where individuals are accepted and respected.
“There is no central place in Cache Valley that I know of that offers the services that GLBTA resources offer,” Smith said. “Also, Allies on Campus is probably the only ongoing sensitivity training that I know of,
especially at USU.”
Another purpose of being an ally is believing that diversity enriches lives, she said.
Smith said to remember that different types of people make up the world and that although people are not expected to agree with others on all issues, other people’s ideas should still be respected.
“For some, it’s a religious or moral issue, but if you are struggling, remember we all live in the world and diversity of any kind helps to make our lives rich and interesting,” Smith said. “They can still enjoy themselves, respect their own values and still have rich relationships (with people different than them).”
The first Allies on Campus Seminar will be Friday, Sept. 28, from 9 a.m. to noon and is open to USU faculty, staff and students. The second seminar will be Thursday, Oct. 25, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Joe said individuals should attend to increase their awareness.
“If nothing else, it could help you become a little more open-minded,” he said. “It’s helpful because it’s a forum to listen and discuss instead of argue and battle back and forth. You may go in saying this is cool and then later say this isn’t my thing. At least you walked away with a respect for a different viewpoint.”
For more information concerning the seminar, please contact GLBTA services, which are located in Taggart Student Center Room 316A or call 797-4297. The Counseling Center is located in TSC Room 306 and can be reached by calling 797-1012.
“Attending the seminar is a great way to become more familiar with an issue that is facing us in the nation,” Smith said. “Stop by, become informed, and understand a culture that has traditionally been vilified.”
-brittny.jo@aggiemail.usu.edu