GLBT celebrates 6 years

When the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services was first established in 1994, it was met with strong resistance from campus organizations and members of state legislation. Now, the GLBT is in its sixth year of existence. Thursday night, members held a reception and awards ceremony to celebrate the occasion.\n"We have sort of gone on with our work the past six years helping students," said GLBT coordinator Doug Bauder. "We've had lots of support from the campus and the community as we have been here."\nOne of the fears that first arose surrounding the GLBT support center was that it would "just be a place for gay students to hang out," Bauder said.\n"We are much more than that now," he said. "We provide many services to gay and straight students."\nThe GLBT office, located on Jordan Avenue in front of Read Residence Hall, hosted the reception where Kathryn Brown, health educator at the IU Health Center and Duncan Mitchel, one of the coordinators for the GLBT and an IDS columnist, received the GLBT Spirit Award. The award was established in 1999 to honor groups and individuals that "embody the strength, character and spirit of the GLBT."\nBoth Brown and Mitchel, who have been involved with gay rights for 15 and 21 years, respectively, work extensively through the Speakers Bureau to host panels on gay issues. About 50 volunteers devote their time to the panels, which are groups of students and non-students that hold discussions on campus regarding gay issues, Mitchel said.\n"It's always fun and interesting because the mix of people varies from panel to panel," Mitchel said. "The stories they have to tell are often quite wonderful."\nLast year, the panels played host to 55 discussions which reached about 3,800 students, said Anne Reese, the director of the Health and Wellness Education Center.\n"A lot of people think wellness is just working out or eating right," she said. "I think that sexual issues are an integral part of a person's life and their wellness, that they need to feel good and happy and confident and safe about their sexual orientation and their ability to be social."\nPanels are usually held two to three times a week in locations ranging from residence halls to organizations to greek houses.\n"We'll basically go anywhere that is open to us," Brown said. "We are reaching a lot of people, and we know that we're not changing everyone's mind, but we're hoping that it will make a little bit of a difference."\nBrown also said one of the benefits of the GLBT office is having a place for people to get information about getting involved with panels.\n"Before, if we had somebody on campus like a professor or instructor who wanted to do this type of education, they didn't know where to go," she said.\nAt the awards ceremony, Bauder received a surprise honorary membership into the Golden Key National Honor Society from Dietrich Willke, the IU vice president for Golden Key.\n"This is just a great way to celebrate the six years this office has seen, even though it started in such controversy," he said.