I see it and what I see is the responsibilities of it is
really creating this network of
visibility for the campus community.
And that's-- I focus strongly on programming,
is where I put a lot of it
to create this cross campus visibility because
I feel it's like the first step is to
really put the office out there and
integrate the services that we have into existing areas.
Similar with working with the Archives and,
you know, try not
to make it where it's just the GLBTIQ
Center doing everything.
It's really the campus responsibility
and my office helps facilitate that.
It's hard to have a GLBTIQ Resource Center space,
in a changing environment.
Acceptability of same-sex marriage or marriage equality,
however you want to label it, is at an all-time high.
People are coming out all the time. It's not
always such a big deal.
I mean, there's always going to be those sad stories
and unfortunate circumstances.
But overall -- I've got parents calling me to,
you know, what do you have for my son?
And like, interviewing me,
so it's a it's a very different dynamic, I think,
than a lot of resource centers had to face when they
first came about in the '90s and early 2000s.
And so I really try to
focus on this idea of understanding,
culture and awareness within the community.
Students who are coming in and don't have
a really strong foundation of knowing where we came from.
They don't know what Stonewall is.
Or ask them like,
what is National Coming Out Day, oh,
it's a day and you come out and like do --
What is it about though?
And students don't even know that there
was a March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
And I think that's an important step.
And especially as people start
talking about,
as marriage equality becomes more
prominent and we gain more rights,
does the LGBT community disappear?
Does it become no different than the,
I guess the straight community?
And I think that's where the onus is to really
educate young people and myself included,
of where do we come from,
how did we get where we are?
I think that's an important
that's how I'm choosing to approach it.
If I had my druthers, I would see sexual orientation and
gender identity added
into non-discrimination policies nationally.
I think that would help
the ambiguity that I even touched about
knowing that writes my wife and I could even
get because it's state by state.
I mean, if you look at Kennesaw,
we added sexual orientation, I think in '95.
But as soon as you step off KSU property,
I don't have any rights anymore.
I don't have any protections.
I think that creates a lot of
fear and uncertainty and keeps people from
being out and asserting themselves because you don't
know what rights you have, where you have them.
And so I would see that as being a number one priority.
I don't see much changing
until something happens nationally.
I think really that nondiscrimination policy and
marriage equality being done
nationally is really how change will happen.