GLASA Students: Learning To Truly “Live Out Loud”

By Cheryl D’Mello

Four students from GLASA (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance) at Cleveland State University traveled to Indiana University in Bloomington for the annual Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference (MBLGTACC) held from February 13 – 15.

The Conference is the largest and oldest regional queer college conference in North America and promotes leadership, activism, networking, diversity, health, and empowerment among gay, lesbian bisexual, transgender, intersex, and allied students, staff, and faculty around the U.S. and Canada.

Its mission is to engage students, faculty, and staff in issues relevant to the BLGTA community and strives to empower these individuals with the means to truly live out loud.

GLASA is an undergraduate/graduate recognized student group at CSU providing on-campus programming, social events, and peer support to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) students. It is supported by GLBT Student Services in the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at CSU.

This was the first time that the participating CSU students Sloane King, Daniel Simon, Alexis Lancaster and Unique Watts had attended such a conference. A wide range of workshops led by students, faculty, and professionals were offered involving such topics as: “A New Brand of Kink”, “LGBTQ Literature and Life Within Academia”, “Eliminate Bullying: Creating and Using Your Story to Influence Social Policy”, “How ‘Here’ is Queer? And Mediated Identities in the 21st Century.”

King, who is President of GLASA at CSU said, “It was empowering to be with about 2,000 college aged students who felt the way I did.” A Psychology major who is a junior, the workshop she enjoyed most was titled “Hip Hop and Homophobia” where she was surprised to discover the many celebrities that were gay. “The conference was a good balance of activism and social get-togethers.”

Simon, a junior Finance major, is one of the Vice Presidents of GLASA. “It was great to network with like-minded people from other campuses,” he said. “The Conference gave me more awareness about ideas that we can implement on our campus here.”

Watts, a freshman Psychology major, reported that the conference opened her to new perspectives and understandings of different gender expressions. Moreover, Watts reported that she was pleasantly surprised when she discovered the number of allies who attended the conference in order to show support. That so many heterosexual individuals attended the conference allowed Watts to feel more embraced by and connected with the straight community.

Lancaster, a graduate student with a major in economic development and a minor in women’s studies/diversity is the other Vice President of GLASA. He learned from other groups at the Conference how their schools create welcoming environments for GLBTQA people. “I hope to use these ideas to continue making CSU a safe place for students of all sexual identities,” he said.

GLASA, which has about 50 members on campus, meets every Thursday from noon to 1:00 p.m. in MC 401. They have been involved in activism in the Cleveland area, and also have social events. They held a Date Auction on March 6, and are planning an Art Auction on April 4, and a Prom on May 2, 2009.

CSU’s GLBT Student Services seeks to enhance the overall educational experience of the CSU community by providing resources, support, and educational programming that promotes the academic and personal growth and development of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students and their allies and strives to create an inclusive and welcoming campus climate for all students.

For more information, contact the GLBT Student Services at the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, RT 1243, Phone: 216.687.9394 or email: glbt@csuohio.edu.

Article originally appeared in The Cauldron on March 9, 2009.