CSN develops safe zone program for LGBT students

Going to college is the next step in establishing an identity for many young people. Who am I? What do I want to be? Identifying as LGBT can add to the complexity of these questions.

While CSN student Michael Pitta, 27, has been openly gay since he was 16, he knows many new students who would benefit from resources that address the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Pitta, along with many LGBT identifying students and faculty are in favor of the new safe zone program to help students in this area.

“A safe zone is a terrific idea,” he says. “It allows a space for LGBTQ students to be who they are. A lot of kids are trying to figure out who they are. Sometimes, the classroom isn’t the safest place to do this because you never know how teachers are going to react and how their beliefs might affect you.”

CSN recently launched its safe zone program to provide resources for students who identify as LGBTQ (the “Q” stands for queer or questioning).

Owen Pillion, a communications professor and chairman of the Queer Inclusive College Committee, says the safe zone program allows students access to places on campus that either have resources or staff trained to help students who are LGBTQ.

“Places are marked with a sticker,” he says, though stickers are still being created. “Designated areas are marked with LGBTQ imagery that students would recognize.”

In safe zones, students can find out information ranging from LGBT events to where gender-neutral bathrooms are found to resources for domestic violence.

“Say you just came out to your parents, they abandoned you and you don’t have a place to sleep tonight,” Pillion says. “We cover that and everything in between.”

Times have changed since Pillion was in college, he says. Even though there were groups, there wasn’t anything of this caliber.

“As an undergrad, I sought out the gay student group because I wanted to socialize with people like me,” he recalls.

Pillion says considering this generation has been more open to discussing and accepting the LGBT community, new resources are available.

“In the last couple of years, as we talk about marriage equality, it’s sparking social change,” he says.

As issues concerning the transgender community become better known, he says the conversation is expanding to be more inclusive toward transgender people.

“Especially so they feel safe,” he says. “Bullying is a big issue in the LGBTQ community. If you’re trans, it’s not a question of if you’ve gotten bullied but when you get bullied.”

Though there is no way to know exactly how many LGBT students are on campus, Pillion says it’s reasonable to assume there is a decent-sized population of those who identify that way considering there are about 40,000 students.

“Plus, you have students who identify as allies,” he adds.

Lack of resources, Pillion says, can contribute to LGBT-identifying students not feeling comfortable in classes, which might cause them to drop out.

Getting a program to address this population’s needs has been years in the making.

Pillion says CSN has always found a way to promote diversity. However, the college wanted to expand outside ethnicity, which was its primary focus when it came to being inclusive.

“Colleges have to be responsive to this issue if they say diversity is part of its core value,” Pillion says.

In the past, some groups have tried to fill the void by creating student-led organizations. But most fizzled out after students moved on from CSN.

Pillion was an adviser for one of those groups before it evaporated after students left.

Seeing his work, the college office of diversity approached Pillion about starting a faculty and staff run committee. The Queer Inclusive College Committee is made up of faculty that either identify as LGBT or are allies.

The committee began organizing events and activities for LGBT students, but the overall mission was to do more than that.

Adding the safe zone program — Pillion says many college campuses have a version of this — is a natural progression.

Through the committee, faculty and staff can take a seminar to learn about issues concerning LGBT students.

Lisa Clayton, a criminal justice professor and co-chair of the committee, says it recently hosted its first round of training.

“We have gotten some great feedback,” she says. “About 30 people attended our first one.”

Clayton says they will probably hold workshops like this throughout the year.

Pillion didn’t know what the response would be when he told faculty about the seminar to talk about LGBT resources on campus.

“But people were eager,” he says. “We would have had more come, but 30 people was as much as we could fit in the room.”

Pillion oftentimes gets emails from colleagues asking for advice on LGBT issues, from how to deal with pronouns for transgender students to comments that seem insensitive.

He notes that some faculty have transgender students in their classrooms and are afraid of using the wrong terminology.

“So they say nothing because they don’t want to be wrong or offend someone,” he says. “That ends up being worse.”

Pillion says he had other professors say students use offensive slurs during classes.

“In one instance, an instructor had a group of students, who were obviously friends, get up for a group presentation,” he says.

During the presentation, one friend would call another friend “a stupid fag.”

“It was in front of the class,” Pillion says. “(The instructor) knew it was offensive, but didn’t know how to address it.”

While some questions he receives are specific, others pose larger questions.

“Like is it OK for a student to do a speech (during a public speaking class) on them disagreeing with LGBT rights,” he says. “It’s not a clear cut issue. People have free speech, but you wouldn’t let a student do a presentation on why African Americans shouldn’t have rights.”

The workshop helps professors bring these issues to light.

“It’s not telling you what you can or can’t say,” he says. “It’s starting a discussion and offering different viewpoints to help the instructor.”

Pitta has been able to share his experience at CSN and his thoughts about being LGBT friendly.

“To be honest, my experience at CSN has been positive,” he says.

As staff and faculty sign on to become allies, they are given stickers they can post on their office doors and windows.

Now that they have the committee and the safe zone program, Pillion says they are going to reach out to students to get a new student organization activated.

“I really hope something like that happens,” Pitta says.

With the Queer Inclusive College Committee in the group’s corner, Pillion says this group could potentially be more sustainable than others in the past.

Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Follow @mjlyle on Twitter.