From jweins@u.washington.edu Sun Feb 11 10:17:12 1996 Return-Path: Received: from homer01.u.washington.edu by lists.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW96.02/UW-NDC Revision: 2.33 ) id AA18722; Sun, 11 Feb 96 10:17:11 -0800 Received: by homer01.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW95.12/UW-NDC Revision: 2.33 ) id AA70928; Sun, 11 Feb 96 10:17:11 -0800 X-Sender: jweins@homer01.u.washington.edu Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 10:17:10 -0800 (PST) From: Jacqueline Weinstock To: uwtpride@u.washington.edu Subject: Chronicle of Higher Ed. Article "The Politics and Image... Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Thought this might prove interesting to us, as we move forward on developing our own organization. Perhaps a topic for discussion/exploration? Be sure to note the section on the UW Seattle action! Jackie ---------- Forwarded message ---------- - - The original note follows - - >>The Chronicle of Higher Education >>Date: February 9, 1996 >>Section: Students >>Page: A33 >> >>Gay Students Debate Their Politics and Images >> >>Some worry that "in your face" tactics >>serve only to perpetuate stereotypes >> >>By Ben Gose >> >>The "Homo Hop" is not for the meek. >> >>The raucous dance at Vassar College, sponsored by the Bisexual, Gay, and >>Lesbian Association, drew 1,600 students to >>the Campus Center in November. >> >>Erotic photographs and poems about gay life were plastered on walls. >>Several men came in dresses, and a few women >>went topless. Two female strippers were hired to perform together. Students >>from nearby Bard College set up a >>"sadomasochism room," in which leather gear was on view. >> >>It was the sort of display of gay sexuality that might be expected to draw >>a cultural conservative's wrath. But at Vassar, >>although students have been arguing over the dance since it happened -- and >>plenty of straight people attended -- the >>loudest critics have been gay students. >> >>"It perpetuates the stereotype that all gay students are promiscuous," >>complains Elizabeth Hackett, a freshman and a >>member of BiGALA, as the student group is known. "That makes it easy for >>straight students to forget that we're real >>people." >> >>Another dissenter from the fun, junior Devin Lindow, says, "It sends the >>message that this is what a queer lifestyle is >>like, that this is what we do with our time." >> >>But supporters of the bash say it has helped gay students gain respect. >>Stephen Liss, a heterosexual junior, says friends >>who once told nasty jokes about gays stopped doing so after the Homo Hop. >>"The intermingling of the two communities >>has a very positive effect," he says. >> >>The disagreement points to a question that gay students on several campuses >>have asked themselves this year: What kind >>of image should they project? >> >>Some students argue that gay-student groups must continue to make "in your >>face" demands for recognition, ranging >>from protests to parties like the Homo Hop, which are meant to challenge >>taboos. >> >>Other gay students, however, believe that the groups should tone down their >>message. They worry that confrontation and >>flamboyance widen the chasm between gay and straight students, and may >>prevent some gay students from taking their >>first, halting steps from the closet. >> >>Debates over the issue have broken out at other institutions. At New York >>University, for example, meetings of the >>Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay Union last year drew fewer than 10 members. In an >>attempt to increase the turnout, the group -- >>which had been little more than a social club -- decided to turn up the >>volume. It changed its name to the Queer Union and >>staged a "kiss-in" in front of an administration building in October. The >>rally made the front page of the student paper, >>and the number of students coming to the group's meetings tripled. >> >>But Franklin Ricarte, the group's vice-president, worries that students who >>are still coming to terms with their >>homosexuality are turned off by the new approach. >> >>Mr. Ricarte, a junior, transferred from Loyola Marymount University. He >>remembers seeing fliers for meetings of gay >>students during his sophomore year there, while he was still in the closet. >>But he feared that intolerant classmates might >>turn on him if he joined the group. >> >>Students in that predicament need a low-pressure "safe space," which isn't >>exactly what the N.Y.U. group offers, he >>says. "If I were coming out, I'm not sure I would want to be identified as >>'queer.'" >> >>Some students think that such squabbles and hand wringing are an inevitable >>result of the success of the gay-rights >>movement. The first gay-student groups were founded in the late 1960s and >>now number more than 2,000. >> >>Thirty institutions have full-time administrators whose sole responsibility >>is coordinating gay and lesbian activities, twice >>the figure as in 1992, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. >> >>The University of Minnesota established an office of gay, lesbian, >>bisexual, and transgender programs two years ago. Its >>director is Beth Zemsky. Now that gay-student groups have moved closer to >>the mainstream, she says, "sometimes they >>flounder a little bit, because they have to figure out what their new >>political agenda is." >> >>Some groups are looking to phase out profile-raising activities altogether. >>Montana State University's Lambda Alliance is >>a place where even closeted students "can sit and touch base in the >>simplest possible way," says Simon Westlake, its >>chairman. The group avoids protests, to keep from deterring anyone from >>joining. >> >>But without a political cause, discussions at meetings can stagnate, he >>says. "Once students get over the initial fear of >>coming out, they feel that they don't need Lambda anymore." The group has >>40 members, but only about five do much >>work, he adds. >> >>Many openly gay students say they find support groups exceedingly dull. >>They are more interested in activities that raise >>the profile of homosexuals, like Vassar's Homo Hop. But they disagree on >>what image should be cultivated. >> >>The students who planned the Homo Hop make no apologies. "It's the kind of >>entertainment that queer people like to >>see," says Molly Ingraham, a junior. >> >>She and others called the party a "sex positive" event. Students could pick >>up condoms in the "safe-sex room," she says. >>Closeted students could get an anonymous thrill from the strip show, and >>heterosexual and homosexual students could >>dance and laugh together, without inhibition, she adds. "The Homo Hop was >>all about visibility. People said, 'Oh, my >>God, queer sex exists.'" A year earlier, however, the party had been >>canceled because of the same issues students are >>fighting over this year. >> >>The debate on the campuses is a microcosm of a larger one. In a 1993 book, >>A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in >>American Society (Simon & Schuster), Bruce Bawer, a gay cultural critic, >>argued that a small but conspicuous band of >>activists has skewed the way mainstream society views homosexuality. The >>provocative use of "kiss-ins" and graphic >>displays of sexuality have "made it harder for most [heterosexuals] to >>recognize the common humanity, common >>backgrounds, and common values that they share with most homosexuals," he >>wrote. >> >>The divisions within student groups set people who agree with that thesis >>against those who dispute it. Members of UK >>Lambda, at the University of Kentucky, hotly debated last fall whether they >>should "out" a prominent student who they >>knew was gay but who did not speak up for gay rights. "If gays are going to >>get anywhere in the battle for equal rights, >>it's imperative that we resort to measures that aren't exactly popular," >>says David Waggoner, a junior there. >> >>But Julien Aleqsandres, UK Lambda's president, calls outing a "cheap shot" >>that would turn off all but the most radical. >>Mr. Waggoner concedes that those who supported his position were few, but >>he says they brought energy to a lifeless >>group. He backed off, grudgingly. >> >>Students on many campuses have resolved the problem of divergent opinions >>by splitting into more than one group. The >>University of Michigan, an extreme case, has 22 gay-student organizations, >>including those for gay Asians, gay >>engineering majors, and gay Christians. The Queer Unity Project, which has >>about 150 members, is the activist group. >> >>At the University of Washington, two activist groups took differing >>approaches when it was discovered last fall that >>partners of gay students could not get discounts at a campus gym, while >>heterosexual spouses could. >> >>A radical undergraduate group known as the "Queer Dawgs" has called for a >>boycott of two women's basketball games in >>February. But a gay-graduate-student group said it would not take part in >>the boycott, instead choosing to hand out fliers >>at an afternoon rally criticizing the university's policy. >> >>"They're older," says Jason Salzenstein, a sophomore and a member of the >>Queer Dawgs. "They tend to be a little >>quieter." >> >>Steven Manson, the graduate student whose partner was denied a discount, >>says he prefers the subtler tactics. "By doing >>something low key rather than pounding it into people, you tend to win >>converts a little more easily." >> >>At the University of California at Los Angeles, gay Latino students revived >>a long-dormant branch of one group last >>spring. Ray Fernandez, a member of La Familia, which has about 15 members >>now, says white students don't appreciate >>what he calls the "double jeopardy" of being a member of a minority group >>and gay. "The white gay community tends to >>ignore race and focus only on homosexuality, as if race wasn't just as >>important a factor in this country," he says. >> >>But he believes that the disputes within the gay-student community are >>healthy. Gay students are simply questioning the >>goals of mainstream gay groups, in the same spirit that black women have >>questioned the goals of mainstream, mostly >>white, feminism, says Mr. Fernandez. >> >>"People say we're all gay and we'll all get along, but that's not true," he >>says. "Sexuality doesn't link us." >> >>Copyright (c) 1996 by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc. > >++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .