Scott Turner Schofield (formerly Kt Kilborn) performed a solo play on gender roles on Wednesday.

Arts & Living

Rainbow Connection

LGBT groups strive for positive atmosphere

By Haley Yarosh
Staff Writer

Emory alumnus and transgendered person Scott Turner Schofield (’02C) came out once again in his one-man performance titled “Debutante Balls.” His humorous depiction of coming out in the South plays on the coming out of young girls at debutante balls. Turner’s changing costumes, childhood memiors and comic monologue made a statement about gender roles and the difference between sex and gender.

“It was a well done, both humorous and informative, depiction of the fluidity of gender in America,” said College sophomore Alex Horstmann. “The show was done in a very personal way that hit home for its audience.”

Such a performance is one of many ways that the Office of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Life works to promote a gay-friendly culture at Emory. Its Safe Space program identifies gay-friendly spaces with sensitivity training from its Speakers Bureau. LGBT Office Director Saralyn Chesnut wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel that “the mission of the Office of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Life is to improve the campus climate for LGBT students and employees (faculty and staff).”

The LGBT Office lends guidance to the various LGBT organizations on campus, provides some funding, and cooperates with the organizations toward shared goals.

Emory’s gay organizations include Emory Pride, ROSA (Rainbow Oxford Student Association) on the Oxford campus, Sacred Worth at the Candler School of Theology and similar smaller organizations in the graduate schools. So many organizations exist because “every school and thus every group of students has its own culture and set of issues with which to deal,” Chesnut wrote.

In Emory College, such issues are met by Emory Pride. “Our goals are to increase awareness of LGBT issues on campus and in the Atlanta community, as well as to provide a network of support for LGBT students. We strive to reach out to the entire University as well as other schools in Atlanta, rather than just Emory College,” wrote College junior and Emory Pride President David Katz in an e-mail to the Wheel.

Pride organizes an LGBT Awareness Week, participation in AIDS Walk Atlanta, movie days, and dinners in the homes of gay-friendly faculty and staff. Some of the more popular events include the LGBT Film Festival each spring and the Pride Banquet held each March commemorating a 1992 protest.

According to Katz, Pride’s annual Valentine’s Day Ball drew around 100 students this year. Pride raised funds this year by selling nearly 300 T-shirts reading “Emory: Gay friendly since 1992. What about you?” he said. The shirts were worn during LGBT Awareness Week in October, and again after the November election, when Georgia passed an constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Because of efforts by the LGBT Office, the University continues to treat domestic partnerships as marriages, despite the amendment.

Wednesday’s Day of Silence was another way in which the gay community is making a statement. Day of Silence Coalition Co-chair and Oxford College sophomore Tim Brady wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel that “by lifting everyone up and by supporting each issue, we bring those issues to the forefront… We progress social issues by working together because we believe in the power of organized individuals to ignite change.” Approximately 300 students, mostly at Oxford College, joined Brady in raising money and protesting discrimination by taking a vow of silence, drawing attention to the lack of dialogue on the subject.

The Day of Silence and Amendment One rallies continue this tradition of protest that originally created the Office of LGBT Life.

A gay activism organization called the Emory Lesbian and Gay Organization worked through the late 1980s, with frequent and significant harassment, to create a University-funded office to deal with LGBT issues. The LGBT Office was formed in 1991, but remained small until an incident incited protest.

In December 1991, two male students were harassed by Residence Life staff and fellow students for kissing in a residence hall. On March 2, 1992, nearly 100 students protested the University’s response, which they felt was insufficient. Then-University President James T. Laney appointed a task force to approach the issue. The task force, which later became the President’s Commission on LGBT Concerns (PCLGBTC), recommended that the LGBT Office be expanded to include a full-time director.

College junior and PCLGBTC member Devin Murphy said the Commission was formed “as a central body to work within and outside of the Emory community and to advise the President on LGBT issues.” He considers the PCLGBTC to be a “group that initiates programs and then finds these programs a home.”

Through the work of the LGBT Office, the PCLGBTC and the various student organizations, domestic partnerships have been recognized, an anti-discrimination policy has been created and upheld, classes in queer theory have been added to the curriculum and a generally gay-friendly atmosphere has been maintained.

These organizations have plenty of work ahead of them, though.

“Gay life at Emory, at least in my experience, isn’t really all that much,” wrote College junior and Pride Treasurer Danielle Sampson in an e-mail to the Wheel. “This isn’t to say that I don’t know a lot of gay kids at Emory, it’s just really hard to meet new ones that aren’t already in the gay circle.”