Doug Bauder, office coordinator for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services, said it is important for this history to be celebrated and recognized.
“It’s extremely important that we look at what the issues used to be and what they are now,” he said. “It’s really incredible to see how things have changed, not only in the Bloomington community but around the country and around the world.”
Things have changed significantly on the IU campus since the GLBTSSS office first opened in November 1994.
Bauder, who has been an integral part of the office since its founding, said the University’s first incident response team was initially incepted to help students with racial ?harassment.
Soon after, it was discovered there was also a significant amount of students in the LGBT community facing harassment.
“In a two-year study, they found that just as many students had a problem with harassment over their sexual orientation as they did with race,” he said. “At that point, the dean of students decided that it was time to provide support to gays and other underrepresented ?students.”
Bauder said during the past 20 years, the biggest change he has seen has been students’ willingness and desire to support the LGBT community as well as the GLBTSSS office.
“It’s interesting to see that many more students now are wanting to educate themselves about the issues,” he said. “Not only are they wanting to educate themselves, but they are also wanting to be advocates for the gay ?community.”
Bauder said he believes more students want to become advocates because the issues have become more personal and relevant to them.
“Twenty years ago, students didn’t even realize that they had gay friends,” he said. “It really is a sign of how far we’ve come, and we aim to be a place that those student advocates can come to for information. Sometimes it really is just about getting good information out there.”
The GLBTSSS office will celebrate its 20-year anniversary next month and plans to have an open house event Nov. 19 to mark the occasion. Bauder said LGBT activists and former administrators will attend the open house and speak throughout the day about their ?experiences.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity to hear from people who have worked in this office and to see how their experiences have differed throughout the years,” he said.
Bauder said it is important to look at how far the LGBT community has come. However, he said the GLBTSSS office likes to celebrate the little victories throughout the year.
“We don’t make it a big deal that it is LGBT history month,” he said. “Whenever there is an opportunity to celebrate, we take it. With marriage equality laws passing every day, there is always a chance to celebrate.”
