Bloomington is gay friendly, but there’s still room to grow

While being gay in Indiana might be hard, many say it’s getting easier in Bloomington. Still, there is much room left for improvement.

Recent statistics from the National School Climate Survey show nine in 10 GLBT students report being verbally harassed in high schools because of sexual orientation.

Despite this shortcoming, Bloomington appears to be continuing the progress in social understanding that began with the establishment of the Kinsey Institute.

“Because of the university, because of the open nature of the community, Bloomington has become our nation’s fifth largest per capita population of same-sex couples because they’re welcome,” said Beverly Calender-Anderson, director of the Safe and Civil City Program.

IU has resources, such as the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual Student Support Service, that educate students on these issues of abuse and support students who have been harassed.

Outside of the university, resources for GLBT community members are less specific, and the tolerance of the community is more ambiguous.

“The campus is accepting of gay students. People who live in town are probably not as tolerant,” recent graduate Chase Casey said. “I personally don’t care. As long as you don’t throw it in my face, people can do what they want.”

Francisco Tirado, a transfer student from DePaul University in Chicago, said the community is comparable to what he experienced at his former, liberal school.

“Coming to Bloomington, it was interesting to see the difference, or how not so different they were, because Bloomington is a pretty liberal city,” Tirado said. “Perhaps the gay community isn’t as loud here, but it still has a voice.”

There is a GLBT anti-harassment team at IU that keeps track of incidents of harassment on campus. An incident can be anything from verbal abuse to actual physical assault on rare occasions. The number of these incidents has been declining in the past decade.

“Supporting students who have suffered abuse is a very small part of what we do,” Doug Bauder, director of the GLBT office, said. “It really does not define us. We are much more involved in education and advocacy.”

Even with the support, there is still room to grow. Bauder said he would like to see the Bloomington atmosphere expand to other areas around the state.

“There are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students who talk to classes at IU through our program with the Health Center,” Bauder said. “I’d like to train some of those students to go back to their high schools and help the administration and students create a friendlier atmosphere in those schools.”

Tirado said he had a different idea on how to benefit the welfare of the gay community.

“It’s not about the organizations, it’s about the community,” he said. “Honestly, a gay bar would help. I think it would be a lot more helpful than GLBT groups would be.”