UNR students come out for gay and lesbian pride
by Ursula Riina, Outpost Contributor
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The biggest little secret |
One University student uses his journalism skill to battle ignorance and get his messages across.
"Hank is a fag" were the words written in shaving cream on a bathroom mirror in a residence hall at the University of Nevada, Reno. Hank Sichley, a third-year journalism student, was the target of what he considered cowardly expressions of ignorance.
In retaliation, chalk messages appeared throughout the campus, "Homophobes are spineless creatures." Within a week, the shaving cream and chalk messages had all been washed away and issues of homosexuality on campus retreated behind closed doors.
"Homosexuality, unfortunately, is a taboo subject," Sichley said. "I'm trying to change it by being open."
Originally from a rural town in Nevada, Sichley belives that neither his hometown nor the city of Reno has been accepting of him because of his sexuality. He sees the shaving cream incident as an opportunity for the issue of homosexuality to be addressed. Sichley believes that it is a homosexual's responsibility to make being gay "an issue." It is through his writing that he is able to address the issue in the Reno community.
"I am sad that people everywhere are scared to talk about homosexuality," Sichley wrote in a guest column of the Sagebrush, the univerisity's newspaper. "Even many liberals are hesitant to accept gays and lesbians as equals. As a result, there is a huge lack of heterosexual support when an anti-gay crime is committed."
Daniel Jacques, treasurer of the Gay and Lesbian Bisexual Student Union (GLBSU), a UNR student-affiliated organization at the University of Nevada campus, agrees that it is difficult for gay students and others in Reno. But sees hope in the young adult population.
"It's very difficult for gay people in Reno, because it's not a very open community," he says. "The GLBSU is not very well known around the campus. But when people do hear about us, they are very supportive generally. We haven't had a lot of negative responses. The only such case in recent years was the homophobe response triggered off by an incident in Nye Hall."
Jacques also says that within the larger gay community, GLBSU has had good responses. "It's more a networking group where people can get away from the feeling of being isolated--because the community doesn't really support them--so it helps to bring people together."
The organization is open not only to students but to the whole gay and lesbian community in this city. It's basically a forum for people with alternate lifestyles to feel comfortable and realize that they're not alone.
But, even with an increase in dialogue and with supporting groups like the GLBSU, gays and lesbians are still seen by some students as different and unaccepted.
A 21-year-old heterosexual male student replied, "How many of them do you want?" when sources for this story were being sought. This comment brings out a hidden opinion, one that distinguishes us from "them." The same young man often tells gay jokes and uses a feminine lisp, stereotypical of gays, to draw laughter from a group of people. Does this constitute a lack of support for the gay community or is it the same kind of ignorance issued to blacks, women and anyone labeled "other?"
copyright 6/1/97 Nevada Outpost
http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost
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