Blaze the Dragon greets students at Coming Out on The Green which kicked off the Out Week celebration. Photo courtesy of SJAC
Out Week brings student body together to reflect on progress and to continue advancements in LGBT acceptance
From Staff Reports
October is LGBT History Month. The month recognizes the achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the United States, a community that has historically faced marginalization and discrimination.
LGBT History Month is relatively new, founded in 1994 by a Missouri high school teacher, Rodney Wilson, who believed that gay and lesbian history should be taught in public schools. Wilson thought October was fitting, since public schools are in session and National Coming Out Day falls on Oct. 11. The celebration is endorsed by a number of LGBT organizations such as GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, according to Equality Forum, the nonprofit organization that coordinates LGBT History Month.
At UAB, LGBT History Month includes the annual celebration of Out Week, a weeklong event dedicated to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning students and increasing awareness about resources available to them on campus.
“Having [LGBT History Month] here is really important so that students can understand that UAB is a welcoming and inclusive space for you, no matter your sexuality or gender identity,” said Maigen Sullivan, gender and sexuality diversity coordinator for Student Multicultural and Diversity Programs.
According to Sullivan, Out Week, which kicked off Oct. 10 with Coming Out on the Green, encourages acceptance of the LGBTQ population on campus and connects students who might identify similarly or share experiences.
“We want to make sure that we create a lot of visibility, which is why things like the rainbow flag that we put up on The Green […] and all the events that we do are really important,” Sullivan said. “Because that lets folks know that there are people here who are going to be accepting and loving [of] you no matter what.
Although great strides have been made in the fight for LGBTQ rights, Sullivan said that there are still a ways to go in securing acceptance and protections from discrimination, especially in the state of Alabama, where sexuality and gender identity are not included in non-discrimination laws and policies, according to the Center for American Progress.
“You can still be fired for being gay, things like that,” Sullivan said. “And on campus, we have things to protect [them], like Title IX for trans students and then our nondiscrimination policy, but for students who may be working off campus, they don’t have protections based off of gender and sexuality.”
Another problem some LGBTQ students face are a loss of support from their families.
“Coming out to their parents and perhaps losing that financial and emotional support is a really big deal. [Homelessness] is a huge deal for queer and trans students, both nationally and for our students,” Sullivan said. “I know, personally, each semester, I hear from a couple of students who are having issues finding housing because they’ve come out or they’ve gotten into a fight with their parents. So, being able to feel safe on campus, being able to disclose your sexuality or gender identity is probably one of the biggest problems for students on campus.”
One thing Sullivan hopes to encourage UAB students and faculty to do is to identify proper pronouns to avoid misgendering fellow students and staff.
“It can be complicated, but I think it’s always best to give people the chance to self-identify, no matter what that is,” Sullivan said. “We already do that in our introductions, we go around and say our name or our major.”
Two new features have recently been added to Blazernet to help in that regard. Students now have the option to choose their preferred pronoun (he/she/singular they) and their preferred name.
“But what we need is for students, faculty and staff to use them,” Sullivan said. “A lot of faculty, staff and students aren’t asking people for their pronouns, they’re not respecting them so they’re misgendering people, and I know that’s a huge issue, particularly for our trans students, being misgendered and misnamed in their classes or their social groups.”
UAB has many resources for LGBTQ students. One is the Student Multicultural and Diversity Programs, which Sullivan encourages students to visit and join.
“I think people should be here all the time,” Sullivan said. “It’s a place for folks to hang out, a place for them to meet other people, to meet our students and to get involved.”
Another resource is the Office of Student Advocacy, Rights and Conduct, to which students can report issues of discrimination, both in person and anonymously online, according to Sullivan.
However, senior public health student Melodi Stone doesn’t find the reporting system adequate for students who might fear retaliation.
“We still need a single online system for reporting and recording instances of harassment and bias that doesn’t require the targets of the bias to go out of their way to make an appointment and go to SARC,” Stone said. “Students still fear retaliation for calling their professors in on instances of bias or discrimination, and many times those professors are repeat offenders. We want them to be held accountable, and if they have a record of bias incidents the students need to know for their own safety and the community will be able to create opportunities for them to learn and grow.”
Another resource is Student Health and Wellness, which includes an LGBTQ-inclusive sexual health clinic. Health and Wellness also partners with Multicultural and Diversity Programs for BorderTRANS, a student-led support group for trans-identifying students on campus that holds monthly social gatherings.
Other student organizations include MedPride for medical students, GRADient for LGBTQ graduate, professional and postdoctoral students and the Alliance for LGBT Equality, which is an employee-resource group for the university and the UAB Health System.
Other LGBTQ resources can be found on Student Multiculural and Diversity Programs’ website at uab.edu/smdp.
