Looking Forward

I haven't posted in quite some time, and that's because I graduated in December and am now working. This blog, unfortunately, is one of the casualties of my full-time schedule these days. But, before I put it to rest, I wanted to leave off during this, the first week of the new semester, with an inspiring letter from UMCP Asian American Studies professor and straight ally, Phil Nash:

A Straight Ally's 2008 Agenda

As a Japanese American whose mom and family were placed behind barbed wire during World War II because they were Japanese American, I can understand how unfair it is when LGBT people are treated like they are all alike and face discrimination for something they cannot change.

During the movement to redress that unfair wartime incarceration, I was struck by the different ways supposed allies treated me when I went to ask for their help. Some sympathized, but were too busy to do anything. Others wanted to help, but expected me to do all of the work. Finally, a third group understood, wanted to help, and were willing to devote some of their own time and personal capital to help my family and community receive justice.

I aspire to be like the people in that third group. When Japanese Americans received an apology and a token compensation in 1988 (although Japanese Latin Americans are still pursuing redress, which is another story), I vowed to repay the kindness shown to me by finding others who were facing discrimination and helping them receive the same fairness my community had received.

The current types of discrimination faced by the LGBT community remind me of that faced by Asian Pacific Americans over the years. For that reason, I have devoted part of my spring semester Asian Pacific American Public Policy class at U MD each year to informing students about LGBT issues and helping them to see the importance of addressing the discrimination faced by all people, not just people like themselves.

Once again, we will start the class by listening to a forum on the latest updates from those fighting for domestic partnership benefits at U MD, and then go to Annapolis with Equality Maryland to observe how a group advocates for its own rights (as a professor, I cannot force anyone to participate or base my grade on participation, but some students participate on their own). During the rest of the semester, we will use the LGBT situation as a reference point when addressing the situation facing Asian Pacific Americans.

Each class is run in different ways, but each class provides an opportunity to bring social justice into the classroom (go to http://www.rethinkingschools.org and see how even mathematics can be taught using social justice themes). I hope that each student will raise this with their teachers, and each teacher will take it upon herself to think about how to bring social concern into the classroom.

Prof. Phil Tajitsu Nash
Asian American Studies Program
University of Maryland

Best of luck to everyone in the coming year!

Kevin

Marilee Lindemann wins award!

With permission, an email from Professor William A. Cohen:
Dear LGBTQI Friends, Colleagues, and Allies,

It is a great pleasure to inform you that our own Marilee Lindemann is
the recipient of a Michael Lynch Service Award from the
Gay-Lesbian/Queer Caucus of the Modern Language Association of America
for 2007. The award honors Marilee's extensive service in building and
directing the LGBT Studies program at the University of Maryland, as
well as her innovative scholarship and teaching in queer studies.

The Michael Lynch Service Award is meant, in Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's
words, "to publicize and celebrate--and as widely as possible--the
range, the forms, the energy, and the history of queer activism by
academics." The prize will be awarded at the MLA Convention in Chicago
later this month.

Please join me in congratulating Marilee for this impressive and
well-deserved honor.

Best wishes for the end of the semester,

Bill

--
William A. Cohen
Associate Professor
Department of English
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
wcohen@umd.edu
Congrats Dr. Lindemann!!!

Trans in College

The Columbia Spectator, Columbia University's student newspaper, published a story today titled "Transgender Students Search for Campus Niche."

It is a very interesting story that touches on a lot of the struggles faced by transgender college students across the country.

To read the story, click here.

Colleges Recruit with Pro-LGBT Message

According to a Campus Pride press release:

CHARLOTTE, December 4, 2007 –This past weekend thirty colleges from across the United States came out to recruit high school youth and highlight their programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The national East Coast fair took place this past Satuday, December 1 on the campus of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

...

The thirty colleges who participated in the East Coast fair were: Bucknell University, Columbia University, Connecticut College, Williams College, Eugene Lang College, Georgetown University, Goucher College, Illinois Institute of Technology, Lehigh University, Lewis & Clark College, Alfred University, Barnard College, Binghamton State University of New York, Michigan Tech, Syracuse University, Swarthmore College, Roosevelt University, Pennsylvania State University, Washington & Lee University, Monmouth University, Towson University, Princeton University, Brandeis University, Marymount Manhattan College, Emory University, University of Utah, University of Texas Austin, Hofstra University and University of Pennsylvania.

Very encouraging news! And, it's great to see that University System of Maryland was represented with Towson University attending! I attended Towson for one semester and am proud to see that it is involved in LGBT outreach.

LGB(T?) Greek Life study

Released today, from CampusPride.org:

The Lambda 10 Project, an educational initiative of Campus Pride, released results and a set of strategic recommendations from the first-ever national formal research exploring the LGBT experience within fraternities and sororities from 1960 to 2007.

The press release about the new research, which can be found here, states the following:

Results published in the Lambda 10 Project report suggest that fraternity and sorority organizations are more welcoming of LGB members today than in the past. Over 75% of the respondents were "out" to members of their fraternity/sorority, with current undergraduates reporting that they were more "out" (83%) than their alumni/ae counterparts (25%). The study also indicated the main reason LGBT people join fraternities and sororities are for "friendship" and that a significant number of these students are involved as leaders in their respective chapters.

"Overall the research is very encouraging and echoes the change in attitudes from younger generations to be more open-minded and inclusive of LGBT people," said Sue Rankin, Ph.D., the lead researcher for the study. "However, as the results suggest, we still have some work to do given that over 50% of current undergraduate (n=98) respondents reported that the climate within their chapters was somewhat homophobic."

This is an intriguing study, but I have a qualm. The use of the acronym "LGBT" seems like the most inclusive way to address our community these days, but if you aren't talking about transgender people, then don't imply you are.

Here is something to consider about the Lambda 10 project, also from the press release:

The report released today by the Lambda 10 Project is the first-ever formal research of its kind and the largest national study to date. The research builds on the data from an informal assessment published by Case (1995). Four hundred and forty people who self-identified as either current or past fraternity and sorority members responded to the call to participate in February 2006. The participants included 347 men, 88 women and one transgender person.

ONE transgender person?? ONE?

I question whether this report should be called "Experiences of LGBT People in Fraternities & Sororities." Maybe just LGB?

Either way, should be an interesting read!

"Brothers on the Down Low" Presentation at UMD

"Bridging the Gap between Love and Sexuality"
Brothers on the Down Low Part Two
A Discussion with J.L King
Featuring Def Poet ButtaFlySoul

Friday, Nov. 30
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
University of Maryland Reckord Armory 0135
Free Admission

"This program is the second of a two part series addressing the topic of "men on the down low". It will seek to answer these questions: What is your perception/stereotype of men? How about men on the down low? What are the truths that underlie the myths of the brother on down low? Is there a correlation between down low men and HIV/AIDS? The Discussion will be lead by J.L. King, Author of “On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep with Men.” Also featuring a performance by Poet and Activist ButtaFlySoul from Russell Simmons’s HBO series, Def Poetry.

"Down Low" (DL) defined: men who traditionally identify as "straight" while having sex with other men—refusing to employ the standardized descriptors of sexual identity. "

Presented by Delta Sigma Theta, Pride Alliance, Student Entertainment Events, Student Global AIDS Campaign, University Health Center, and Zeta Phi Beta.

*Information from Facebook event listing.

Opinion Columns on Transgender and HIV/AIDS Issues

In the The Diamondback's opinion section - which I am an editor of - today, University of Maryland senior Andrew Bowen wrote a column about transgender issues at the university, in the state and across the country.

Check out the column here.

Also today, staff opinion columnist Matthew John Phillips - a University of Maryland junior - wrote his feelings about how we think about HIV/AIDS today, referencing the 19th annual World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Check that column out here.