LGBTQ community says change is needed

UNC's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community is seemingly always in a state of change.

After shock waves were sent through the community by a hate crime on a gay UNC student last year, many were able to find stability in the LGBTQ Office.

But once again, the community is forced to search for solid ground.

Stephanie Chang, former LGBTQ Office coordinator, left UNC in early September for a similar position at the University of California-Irvine.

And as officials reassess the office's programs and leadership, some students say a re-evaluation of the LGBTQ climate is in order.

The Princeton Review recently published a list of campuses that are most LGBTQ-accepting. UNC didn't make it into the top 20.

Tommy Rimbach, co-chairman of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender-Straight Alliance, said he thinks UNC has become less welcoming to LGBTQ students during his three years on campus.

"I've seen the classroom environment change into a place where queer students are not afforded the opportunity to safely be in the classroom - especially when talking about issues of diversity," Rimbach said.

Comments often can be unintentionally offensive, he said.

In his State of the University address last week, Chancellor James Moeser spoke about gay and lesbian diversity on campus, but he did not mention bisexual and transgender individuals.

Some took issue with the omission. "He's kind of mainstreaming what it means to be queer," Rimbach said. "I think he left out a lot."

To spark change, UNC officials could include gender identity in the nondiscrimination policy, he said.

"I don't think anything has changed since the hate crime last year," he said, adding that while Moeser's presence at last year's vigil spurred healthy debate, dialogue has seemingly ceased.

"On the surface it's very accepting," said Jessica Stewart, GLBTSA's secretary. "But I think if you go deeper - there a lot of people who don't get a lot of information."

An interim team has been named to lead the LGBTQ Office, and Winston Crisp, senior associate dean of students, said he hopes a committee can begin hunting for a permanent replacement this semester.

"We want to go beyond just a place for people to come to, to more of an outreach," said Crisp, who would like to expand programming.

A review of the 2002 LGBTQ climate evaluation report already has begun, officials said.

But beyond possibilities of gender-neutral bathrooms and policy modifications, Rimbach said creating an accepting campus will be a long process.

"It's one thing to make policy changes, - but it's another thing to change the overall social and political climate."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.