Panel discusses GLBT acceptance at IU

IU has come a long way in accepting its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population, concluded the participants of yesterday's "Being Gay at IU" panel, held at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. \nAt the same time, there's still more work to be done.\nIt wasn't until May 2002 that University employees could sign their partners on their insurance. Since then, more than 75 employees on the eight IU campuses have signed up for such benefits, said Cindy Stone, a training coordinator at the physical plant.\n"Ten years ago, when my partner of 20 years died, our status wasn't recognized," Stone said. "There were no domestic partner benefits. I was only guaranteed two hours of funeral leave to attend the funeral of a friend. My supervisor had to break the rules to give me several months of leave. It was then that I vowed that no other staff member would have to deal with such red tape."\nDespite the progress, panelists felt IU made several mistakes last semester in dealing with Kelley School of Business Professor Eric Rasmusen's Web log. Rasmusen's log, which contained anti-homosexual remarks, was removed from IU servers but reposted one day later to protect his first amendment rights.\n"I wish the president had gone on record," said Terrill Cosgray, director of the MBA program at Kelley. "I'd like to know how the University level dealt with that issue. The public has a sense that it doesn't matter because the University didn't respond."\nThe incident was particularly upsetting for senior Kendra Clark, a first-year transfer student from Virginia.\n"The Rasmusen blog was my first impression of IU," Clark said. "I didn't know what to do. It was not only anti-homosexual, but anti-women and racist. It was just appalling to read. There was a lack from the administration of saying, 'We condemn what's going on.' It was implied, but never said."\nThe four-person panel was sponsored by the Bloomington Professional Counsel and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Committee as part of the week-long celebration of MLK Day.\nSome audience members thought it was unusual for the GLBT to participate in a holiday normally used to reflect on the struggle of blacks. \nPanelists pointed out that King fought against the oppression of all people and that coming out can be particularly difficult for minorities.\n"I'm bi-racial, and I think that's more complex," Clark said. "The people who are most out are usually Caucasian. I think it has something to do with the way we're raised -- church and all that. We're less apt to be out, and that's a shame."\nCosgray also relayed that gays currently share many of the struggles of the early Civil Rights movement.\n"The hateful things said about interracial marriage in the fifties are very similar to the things said about gay relationships today," he said. "I think gays are the last group of people that can be publicly derailed and people will support that view. It's unfair that we're not always viewed as a minority group by other minority groups."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.