This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Conn Coll chapter.
This year, Connecticut College has had the great honor of being recognized as the second most LGBT friendly campus on Campus Pride’s list of “Top 25-LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities”. While our campus does a great job of fostering awareness and support for LGTBQ students, other parts of the country seem to be caught up solely with the campaign for marriage equality, leaving awareness of other LGTBQ issues behind.
Minneapolis mayor, RT Rybak, began his trek around the Midwest last week to push for the legalization of gay marriage in Colorado, Illinois, and Wisconsin. While in Chicago, Rybak gave the campaign an economic spin, trying to sell the idea of marriage equality to constituents on the basis of bringing in revenue for the state. Between flowers, food, and renting venues, weddings are big sources of income for local businesses; legalizing gay marriage will add a whole new population to this economic sector.
Brian Damacio ‘16 is the President of Spectrum, a club on campus that works toward ending homophobia and transphobia through comprehensive education. Damacio agrees that while the campaigning for marriage equality is necessary and building the argument on the basis of economic benefit is effective, “it does not begin to cover these issues as a whole,” he said. Damacio continued, “Some people are not aware about the other injustices LGBTQ people face because they do not have to go through it and/or simply because they do not know.”
While we’ve come a long way as a country in finally getting states to legalize gay marriage, we now need to shift the fight towards one of tolerance and understanding. As Damacio explained, “There are states where you can be fired for being an LGBTQ person. There are clinics that don’t offer resources for Trans folks.” Some people may see winning the fight for marriage equality as reaching the ultimate goal for gay rights. In reality, it’s just the beginning of fostering a new age of acceptance for the LGBTQ population.
If you’re interested in working towards building a more inclusive and open community for all people (both on and off campus), think about joining any one of the three LGBTQ clubs on campus. For any other questions regarding getting involved or getting support from Conn’s LGBTQ community, please contact Brian Damacio at bdamacio@conncoll.edu.
CQ2: Conn Coll Queer and Questioning; Mondays 10-11pm
QPOC(+): Queer People of Color and Allies; Thursdays 7-8pm
Spectrum: Wednesdays 8:30-9:30pm