Events seek to address GLBT issues

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Student Support Services Office is gearing up for a weekend of addressing issues concerning GLBT youth. "Sexual Minority Youth in the Heartland: Issues and Methods for Youth-Serving Professionals," scheduled for July 19-21, is aimed at attracting educators, counselors, social workers, principals, mental health professionals and youth group leaders to build a better understanding of GLBT issues.\nDr. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General, is the keynote speaker and is scheduled to give an opening address for participants who are invited to a luncheon on Saturday, July 20. With many of the conference's meetings and activities taking place in the Indiana Memorial Union, educators, interested parties and GLBT youth are able to attend a youth speak-out event, an exhibition at Lilly Library, a mini-film festival, public discussions and role-playing exercises as well as other scheduled events -- all addressing GLBT views, insights and problems.\n"We're excited about the program we're offering," said Doug Bauder, coordinator in the GLBT Student Support Services Office. "Approximately 230 people will be attending when we were hoping for 200. We're definitely pleased with that."\nBauder said 17 states will be represented and a number of attendees will be coming from other nations. Prospective participants come from as far as Ghana and Aruba.\n"The conference will be working with GLBT youth, helping to encourage safer environments in school and community settings as well as addressing health, faith and family concerns," Bauder said.\nEarlier in May, much controversy surfaced concerning the conference's motives in scheduling its activities a week prior to the Boy Scouts of America's assembly of the National Order of the Arrow Conference. The Boy Scouts do not allow homosexuals to be a part of their group -- and many wondered if this was among the reasons for the Youth in the Heartland conference.\nThe City of Bloomington cut its share of funding for the event in early May, under the impression that the conference had a "hidden agenda." An IDS staff editorial addressed this issue (May 6, "City decision justified"), stating, "In a letter to conference organizers, Deputy Mayor James McNamara stated that, "Clearly in the absence of full disclosure, the city -- like any community collaborator -- reserves the right to withdraw co-sponsorship of events that harbor hidden or unagreed-upon agendas."\nIn response to this editorial, Michael Craw, a member on the Steering Committee for the Youth in the Heartland conference, said in a letter to the editor, "I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the matter of conference funding that (the IDS) rose in the editorial. Various units of the University, including the Chancellor's office, Residential Programs and Services and the Office of Academic Support and Diversity have made generous contributions to the support of this groundbreaking conference. But, at no time did we accept, nor did the City of Bloomington offer, a monetary contribution."\nThose involved in the youth conference fervently argue that their activities are meant strictly for educational purposes and in no way involve a hidden agenda. \n"Thank you for clarifying the misconception that this conference has an "agenda" with respect to the upcoming National Order of the Arrow Conference," Craw stated in his letter. "Sexual Minority Youth in the Heartland is an exciting opportunity for us to provide Indiana teachers, social workers and others with the resources they need to help young gays and lesbians cope with the difficulties they face."\nDerrick English, a GLBT student who will be involved in the Youth Speak-out event and will help with a workshop to address the issue of teen suicide, thinks the conference will have a positive impact on those who attend.\n"I think it's a very good idea," English said. "There's GLBT youth in high school and they have no one to turn to. I had no one to turn to when I came out as a gay teenager and I turned to IU for support," he said.\n"People at the conference will gain an understanding of what teens go through. They can find a way to help out."\nAlso involved with the conference is junior Andrew Becker who worked on increasing enrollment for the conference and helped coordinate the volunteers involved.\n"I'm excited. This should be a great experience and it's something that's needed," Becker said.\n"It'll help build a greater understanding of how to go about talking to troubled students and being sensitive to their issues," he said.\nBauder said the event will not only help those directly in contact with GLBT youth, but GLBT youth themselves.\n"Hopefully the event will give them more courage to be more open about this topic," he said. "It's providing them with the opportunity to come to terms with their issues and will get them to realize that they don't have to experience that kind of harassment"