Not all campuses discriminate

In 2012, Anna Baley, an IU Northwest assistant professor, applied for tenure and a promotion. Instead, she was terminated at the year’s end.

When I first read the headline, I’ll admit I assumed she was claiming racial discrimination. Racial discrimination claims seem so common nowadays that they’re almost a joke.

I remember kids in my high school trying to get themselves out of a detention by asking the teacher, “Is it because I’m black?” as if they could guilt the teacher out of punishment.

But Anna Baley isn’t black, or of any colored race from what I could tell in the article.

She is a lesbian.

It is so rare to see an article about a gay woman, even though the IDS frequently publishes stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. It’s well known that Bloomington has an amazing tolerance for LGBT individuals.

In my media classes, both in the journalism school and in the telecommunications department, we study stereotypes and demographics. When we talk about LGBT individuals, the lectures always lean toward men.

It’s like news media are in denial that lesbians exist. We see LGBT, but it’s like we skip right over the “L.”

So I’m extremely disappointed that the first article I’ve seen all year solely about a lesbian is about the discrimination she’s faced at a branch campus of our University.

We see IU as this Mecca of tolerance toward any sexual orientation. Even before it announced its disapproval of HJR 6, IU has had a reputation of being gay-friendly. This kind of news could hurt IU’s reputation.

Maybe we need to consider that it isn’t IU that’s so friendly.

Maybe it’s Bloomington.

Maybe we were just lucky to be placed in a town that would shape its views toward the plethora of young liberal minds coming to study here. Or, mostly liberal minds.

I’ve never heard of the sister campuses doing anything that supported LGBT. I haven’t heard about South Bend or Fort Wayne or Kokomo throwing a giant symbolic wedding for their gay communities. Not so much as a face-painting booth.

Bloomington did. Not IU, but Bloomington as a city.

This isn’t my way of saying that if Baley had worked at IU-Bloomington this never would have happened. Luckily, she worked for a public school because Indiana law only protects government employees from employer discrimination based on sexual orientation. She would have had a hard time with her case had she worked in the private sector, where sexual orientation discrimination is not protected against.

I’m just saying that as this case goes on we need to separate city from school. Don’t let this incident tarnish your opinion of the University as a whole.

Unfortunately, Bloomington’s acceptance can’t extend everywhere.

Each campus is different, just like the town it’s housed in. We should just be thankful that we at IU-Bloomington chose the one with the more open mind.

­— lnbanks@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Lexia Banks on Twitter @LexiaBanks.