Loud and proud
Lingering outside Schine Underground, Lauren Hannahs waits while the dark basement is transformed into an intimate club scene.
Crammed inside the small room, music jolts the walls as more than 100 college boys and girls grind against each other. Strangers introduce themselves to each other on the dance floor while the Smash Brothers shake the room and everyone in it.
Girls all dolled up; men putting out their best moves; the awkward beginning of most college parties, but this isn’t just any party, and the girls aren’t the only ones dolled up. Certainly, the boys aren’t the only ones putting out their best moves.
For the Syracuse University lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and ally population, the ‘Big Gay Dance,’ which was held Saturday night, is more than a social gathering; it’s an opportunity for the LGBTQA community to have fun in an environment where students can feel open and safe.
‘Part of it is just being around people who are like you. It’s positive and fun and light,’ said Hannahs, senior music composition major and president of Pride Union.
SU recently received the highest score achievable on the Friendly Campus Climate Index, a nation-wide survey taken by Pride Campus, evaluating the attitude of universities toward LGBTQA communities.
The university received a score of five out of five stars, making it one of only 12 universities in the nation to receive the high score out of more than 170 surveyed. But Gay Pride month, marked by National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, is new to the LGBTQA community in Syracuse.
‘In previous years, it’s been coming out week, now it’s an entire month,’ said Colin Fanning, senior interior design major and member of the gay community.
Fanning assists with organizing and setting up many LGBT events, and has been excited for this year’s coming out day particularly because of the national climate.
On Oct. 10, only one day before National Coming Out Day, Connecticut became the third state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage. The State Supreme Court ruled it is a violation of the state’s equal protections laws to deprive same-sex couples the full rights of marriage.
The first two states to legalize same sex marriage were Massachusetts in 2004 and California in June.
While the national LGBT community continues to fight and win battles in court, students on college campuses celebrate the strides the movement has made locally, while remembering those who paved the way.
‘Syracuse didn’t get to be like this in a day; it’s taken 20 years of work. It’s been a lot of getting knocked down and getting back up,’ Hannahs said. ‘The only way things have changed has been with an overwhelming outcry of students standing up and saying it’s not okay that this is going on.’ Hannahs noted not all universities are like Syracuse, and that many students, even here, struggle with the coming out process and being accepted by their family and peers.
‘I hear horror stories about people getting kicked out of their houses, getting financially cut off, verbal and physical and emotional abuse,’ she said. ‘You think this a good place and everyone loves LGBT communities, but then you hear one horror story and realize the world’s not OK, and we have a lot of work to do.’
For some, college is the safest place to come out. Senior graphic arts major Christopher Woodside waited until he enrolled at Syracuse before he came out to his family.
While Woodside admits the LGBT movement at Syracuse could be better, he recognizes that a lot of other schools don’t have resources available to them as members of the gay community.
From the time he came out, he has been actively participating in the events organized by the resource center and Pride Union. Since he was not able to express his sexuality in high school, dances like the Big Gay Dance give him the opportunity to be himself comfortably.
‘I feel like the dance is more of a middle school thing – a little awkward and all, but it’s great to be able to have these things openly,’ Woodside said. ‘It’s a lot better than being in the closet.’
Still, SU students continue to create opportunities like the Big Gay Dance to promote awareness.
While the dance got off to a slow start, by the end of the night the dance floor was packed and no one was left sitting alone. Men danced with men, women with women, men with women, in an environment that made a statement about welcoming people of all backgrounds.
‘I had a lot of fun,’ said Carissa Nodzo, junior conservation biology major and out bisexual. ‘This is definitely a great thing to be doing – everyone just being who they are and open about it.’
While the day of celebration rests on a high, the battle for gay rights is still an uphill one.
Eleven states banned gay marriage in the 2004 election, putting the LGBT community into the spotlight once again in a heated environment.
New York does not recognize same-sex marriage, while the majority of the states banning it are in the southern and central regions of the United States.
Even on a campus considered to be extremely open to alternative lifestyles by organizations like Campus Pride, prejudice breaks through on the public scene.
When asked about harassment of LGBT members on campus, particularly the use of derogatory words, Chris Bell recognized Syracuse is not immune to prejudice, noting that message boards often become sources of persecution.
Despite the use of jarring comments, LGBT advocates like Bell, a post-doctorate research fellow, not only respect, but also encourage the occasionally violent dialogue.’I’m open to people suggesting their thoughts,’ Bell said. ‘I like it when people say fags are unequal, it reminds me not to invite them to my birthday party.’
Bell’s early impressions of the SU LGBT climate are that it’s ‘extremely progressive,’ especially in contrast to other areas of the country. Bell said he was particularly impressed with the LGBT studies minor program, dubbing it ‘brilliant.’ He also notices undergraduate students seem to be interested in coexisting with LGBT students, and that the movement will only go stronger during the next few years.
‘It’s inspiring,’ he said. ‘The history we come from is very new, and we’re still making it right now.’
Published on October 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm
