Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 18:35:36 -0500 (CDT) From: "....DREALM...." Subject: MTSU UEC Progress michael grantham The Student Affairs Sub Council of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) has created the Sexual Orientation Task Force during its first quarterly meeting of 1997 on January 29. The Task Force comes nine months after MTSU's Uniform Equality Committee began focusing attention on protecting the equal rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, faculty and staff. The Task Force will assess the need for a state-wide policy enhancement to address discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation at Tennessee state universities and colleges. "They are at least acknowledging the issue and that's good," says Jeff Hendricks, President of MTSU Lambda Association. Gay and Lesbian student leaders are approaching the news with caution. The Task Force did exist in the early '90s in response to efforts led by Michael LaBonte at the University of Memphis. Hendricks is weary and questions whether the Task Force is attempting to downplay gay and lesbian concerns. "Is it to appease us and keep us quiet or to actually get something done?" Hendicks asks. With caution in mind other groups at the University of Memphis, UT Knoxville, UT Martin and East TN State University have been working with efforts of addressing a state-wide policy enhancement. It is clear that campus efforts will not deminish. On a state level, participating schools will be creating a dialogue with administrative representatives who will report back to the Task Force. TBR members will soon be receiving a number of reports from universities across the nation. The creation of the Task Force will also facilitate state response to the March 28 release of the "Uniform Equality Committee's Report on Sexual Orientation and MTSU." A press conference is scheduled and will also officially kick off a state-wide campus effort to address equal rights. Plans for a free and open Symposium following the press conference will be announced next week. The UEC has been working on its report for five months. The University of Memphis and Vanderbilt have produced similar reports, both of which have led to respective enhancements. Last Month, University of Memphis President Rawlins issued a "value statement" discouraging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. A memphis student says while this does not carry the force of policy, it is clearly a first step in testing the waters for state-wide change. "He's made a couple of speechs including 'sexual orientation' in a protective categories statement," says Sean Campbell, University of Memphis Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance (BGALA) Vice President. T.K Buchanan, BGALA President, says she received a memo saying the University President will not make a decision on policy pending the Task Force's decision. Currently Austin Peay is the only other state school with such a statement of philosophy. "it seems to show a willingness to take small steps in the right direction," Campbell adds. When campus mewspapers reported the creation of the Task Force, gay and lesbian student leaders were promtpted to contact each other for the first time. In the early '90s the TBR kept the original task force quiet until they could determine that a state-wide interest did not exist. With the recent mobilization of the state's gay and lesbian students on this issue, it is becoming apparent that history will not repeat itself. Meeting for the first time at the 5th Annual South Eastern Lesbina, Gay and Bisexual College Conference at the University of Alabama, the "Tennessee Coalition," as an Alabama paper described, began to discuss a statewide campaign. "It was empowering for us to actually meet face-to-face to remind us we do not stand alone in our efforts," says Devon Wlodyga, the Tennessee Campus Index (TCI) co-ordinator. The TCI exists on the Lambda Website listing contact information for gay, lesbian and bisexual student representatives. Relevant info is also distributed through this list. The Lambda Website (http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtlambda) serves as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's state link to campus and youth based organizations. The internet has become a primary means of communication between state contacts. It has facilitated the creation of two campus groups in the last two months and informs students across the state literally on a daily basis. Reflecting on earlier isolated efforts at the University of Memphis, Labonte says, "The issue was a lot more confused back then. Through information sharing our focus has narrowed." Labonte is now doing doctorate work in Anthropology with a focus on Gay and Lesbian Studies at American University. LaBonte comments that the timing of statewide organizing is right despite the political climate. Efforts so far have led campus groups across the state to work on the 6th Annual South Eastern Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual College Conference tentatively schedules for Vanderbilt in 1997. The groups hope the conference will help to express their interest in a state-wide policy change as well as allow groups to begin working together. In the coming months campus groups forsee an eventfull and empowering year. Joking that the opportunity to meet again remains enough for us to work hard, one student says, "Now imagine what an issue will do." Spring is around the corner.