Spring Break
Panel discusses stigmas of LGBT community
MARONA GRAHAM-BAILEY, For The Red & Black
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
There just haven't been enough conversations about issues relating to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, a professor said Wednesday.
Dawn Bennett-Alexander, an associate professor in the Terry College of Business, moderated a panel about some of the issues confronting black LGBT faculty and staff at the University.
Some of the faculty and staff members she approached to be on the panel told her they were not ready to be out in such an open manner.
Coming out and living as a gay man can be a battle, said Cory Johnson, an assistant professor in the counseling and human development services department.
"To do so is a form of activism in a social system that continues to victimize us and oppress us," he said.
Students also don't talk enough about LGBT issues, said Jennifer Miracle, associate director of Intercultural Affairs and Director of the LGBT Resource Center, whose purpose is to create a safe and inclusive environment for the LGBT community within the University of Georgia community.
"Unless they have someone who they know or is a friend who identifies as LGBT, they think 'what does this have to do with me?'"
Beth Moore, women's studies and journalism major, said, "In most of the classes I take, people are accepting."
This semester Moore is taking a class on Queer Theatre and Film within the Department of Theatre & Film Studies.
"I don't really get the feeling that there's an anti-gay movement on campus," the 22-year-old from Pendergrass said.
But she said she's guilty of sometimes throwing the word "gay" around as slang and makes a conscious effort to stop using phrases such as "that's so gay."
Bennett-Alexander agreed that more efforts are necessary.
"We really have work to do in terms of becoming more inclusive, in a classroom."
Dawn Bennett-Alexander, an associate professor in the Terry College of Business, moderated a panel about some of the issues confronting black LGBT faculty and staff at the University.
Some of the faculty and staff members she approached to be on the panel told her they were not ready to be out in such an open manner.
Coming out and living as a gay man can be a battle, said Cory Johnson, an assistant professor in the counseling and human development services department.
"To do so is a form of activism in a social system that continues to victimize us and oppress us," he said.
Students also don't talk enough about LGBT issues, said Jennifer Miracle, associate director of Intercultural Affairs and Director of the LGBT Resource Center, whose purpose is to create a safe and inclusive environment for the LGBT community within the University of Georgia community.
"Unless they have someone who they know or is a friend who identifies as LGBT, they think 'what does this have to do with me?'"
Beth Moore, women's studies and journalism major, said, "In most of the classes I take, people are accepting."
This semester Moore is taking a class on Queer Theatre and Film within the Department of Theatre & Film Studies.
"I don't really get the feeling that there's an anti-gay movement on campus," the 22-year-old from Pendergrass said.
But she said she's guilty of sometimes throwing the word "gay" around as slang and makes a conscious effort to stop using phrases such as "that's so gay."
Bennett-Alexander agreed that more efforts are necessary.
"We really have work to do in terms of becoming more inclusive, in a classroom."
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