Report to Faculty Senate by Professor Linda Lamme Chairperson of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns Committee

Issues and Actions During the Past Year November 9, 2000

I have chaired this committee for the past 3 1/2 years and can attest to the fact that our agenda is always bursting at our monthly meetings and that taking action to help deal with the concerns of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender faculty, staff, and students on this campus has been the most rewarding service to the University of Florida that I ever could have imagined.

I apologize for reading my report. Because each item in it is full of stories, and it is the stories that truly inform, I did not have confidence that I could stay within my 5 - 10 minute time limit if I talked from an outline.

There are two concerns that never seem to go away. Both highly influence recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students at the University of Florida. In the past two years we have lost a full professor at the law school, a student who was a presidential scholar, a university administrator, and an assistant dean of student services, (these are just cases that I personally know about) all of whom left UF because of the "unfriendly environment for gay people at the University of Florida" and all of whom ended up at institutions that have nondiscrimination clauses that include sexual orientation and gender identity, and that have domestic partner benefits. We are the only institution of our size and stature without these two important institutional policies.

There are many other concerns that surface throughout the year. Our Committee has accomplished some major activities.

On domestic partner benefits, we have met with the Personnel Director and our vice-presidents. Our vice-presidents for administrative affairs and academic affairs and our personnel director took the issue of partner benefits to their various state-level groups last year. The Board of Regents staff has agreed to pursue this initiative with the Department of Management Services (DMS).

On the Improvement of Teaching, our committee co-sponsored sessions for the Center for Excellence in Teaching for the last two years to try to get more gay content in all of our courses at UF.

Our committee campaigned to establish a LGBT Resource Center on campus and this year for the first time there is a small room in student services designated as a Center and a member of the students services staff is assigned part-time to work with LGBT students. This year for the first time there is a gay-straight alliance on campus.

There was a Campus Climate Survey in 1993 that indicated the University of Florida was not very gay-friendly. Our committee thought it was important to get more recent data. Last year a member of our committee worked with a campus-wide committee to conduct another survey, on campus climate for minority students. The survey is presently underway.

What Remains to Be Done:

Until there are no more incidents of harassment on our campus; Until the PrideUnion float can pass down University Avenue during the Homecoming Parade without people hurling insults and trash at it; Until the majority of gay faculty, staff, and students come out of the closet; Until the UF/Shands infertility clinic will provide service to gay couples as well as heterosexual couples; We need a nondiscrimination policy on this campus that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

Until gay faculty in the UF Retirement Plan can select options 3 and 4 to provide payments for their partners for life; Until the partners of gay faculty and their children can receive health benefits; We need domestic partner benefits on this campus.

Until all courses at UF that deal with content involving people, include gay content; We need an active Resource Center with a Director who can provide diversity training for faculty and graduate teaching assistants who want to make their course content more inclusive, and who can coordinate diversity training for colleges, departments and student groups who desire such training. At present this diversity work is being done by the few gay faculty, staff, and students who are out, as volunteer work.

Last year's report to the Provost is posted on our senate webpage.

Issue for Consideration by the Senate:

There is one issue we would like to present today for your consideration, an issue of harassment in Insite Magazine.

The Issue: An issue was brought to our Concerns Committee, which we believe is of concern to all faculty members, and therefore bring to the Faculty Senate for action. An off-campus publication called Insite has personally attacked two members of the Division of Student Affairs, Dean Julie Sina and Brandon Miller, in homophobic ways that go way beyond human decency. In one case the person involved is seeking employment elsewhere. I enclose photocopied pages from the magazine, specifically suggesting that the following scenes are offensive:

page 12 March 2000: Dean Sina is consistently depicted in male clothing and Brandon in effeminate ways.

September 2000: "The Dukes of Student Services" depicts Julie as Boss Hogg. Brandon is dressed in high heels, Daisy Duke shorts, with an upside down triangle with a male student leader's name on it (Brad). The upside down triangle is a gay icon. The cartoon also depicts the student, Brad, as the dog Flash--wanting Brandon to "rub his belly" if he turns in fraternities. The suggestion of Brandon being inappropriately involved with a male student through these representations is particularly offensive.

October 2000: Julie is now depicted as Jabba the Hutt. Brandon is called "Dean of Ankle Grabbing," which is a homophobic statement. November 2000: Another issue contains more putdowns of these two individuals Brandon Miller leaves UF for a job at another University.

Requested Action: The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns Committee requests that the University of Florida Faculty Senate consider and approve the following motion. After its approval, we ask that it be sent to the administration.

We, the members of the faculty senate of the University of Florida support our colleagues in the division of student affairs as they encourage students in our fraternities and sororities to embrace their self-acknowledged values of brotherhood, sisterhood, academic excellence, community service, and leadership. We also support the acceptance and operationalization of these values for the student body as a whole.

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