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In the wake of two bias-related assaults in the fall of 2007, Georgetown’s LGBTQ community demanded university support.

IN 2002, A university official told Georgetown’s LGBTQ community that the creation of a university-sanctioned resource center for gay students would be impossible because of a conflict with Catholic teachings.

About six years later, the LGBTQ Resource Center opened its doors in the Leavey Center.

With institutional recognition, the LGBTQ community at Georgetown has made great strides in recent years in making its priorities visible on the Hilltop. The past two years, however, have also been marked by displays of anti-gay bias on and around campus. The decade has been a roller coaster for LGBTQ students at Georgetown; it has been a period of unprecedented successes, intermittent frustration and, above all, reinvigorated unity.

**Small Steps Toward a Big Change**

After reports of instances of discrimination in 2001, GU Pride approached university administrators about setting up a resource center to meet the needs of the LGBTQ community. After 1,000 student signatures were gathered on a petition and a GUSA resolution in favor of the center passed unanimously, the university denied the request.

In a letter presented to the LGBTQ community in February 2002, then-Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez said, “We cannot create or support a center whose mission would unavoidably lead to advocacy of sexual behavior outside the context of traditional marriage. I believe that the proposed LGBT center cannot avoid this risk.”

embers of the LGBTQ community on campus persisted.

During a GAAP weekend in February 2002, prospective students encountered the statement “Gay Hoyas welcome you to GU” chalked in Red Square. Some members of the Georgetown community were surprised by this public display. Despite the existence and public presence of GU Pride, the LGBTQ community had remained less visible than other demographics because of its lack of university recognition.

In the fall of 2003, gay students won their first major victory of the decade. The university named Chuck Van Sant, director of off-campus life, as the interim coordinator for LGBTQ resources.

In an interview with The Hoya on Nov. 4, 2003, Van Sant said the university’s creation of the LGBTQ working group was a major step in the right direction.

“Having a coordinator at Georgetown was a huge step in beginning to meet the needs of LGBTQ students. This position is the first such position in the country at a Catholic institution,” Van Sant said. “I believe, and especially in a Jesuit institution that teaches a care for the whole person, we have an obligation to support fully individual LGBTQ persons and to work towards a fully accepting community.”

Van Sant was replaced by Bill McCoy in September 2004. McCoy, now the associate director for student affairs, said he has seen many changes occur since he came to Georgetown.

“Georgetown has made public claims toward acceptance and support with every step forward the university has made over the past decade: creating a part-time position, establishing space, making public statements against violence and bias through the creation of a full office,” McCoy said. “These claims better the environment for the LGBTQ community.”

cCoy added that during his time here, he has been most impressed with the growth of the community.

“Not necessarily growth in numbers, but the [LGBTQ] community itself is more aware and proactive about addressing the issues that impact us as a whole and its various sub-communities,” McCoy said.

**Called to Action**

The 2007-2008 academic year brought Georgetown’s LGBTQ community challenges and triumphs. Two attacks reportedly motivated by anti-gay bias occurred in September and October of 2007, both involving homophobic slurs and physical assault. Members of GU Pride and other student groups waged the Out For Change campaign – a campus-wide movement led by GU Pride for increased support of LGBTQ students by the university – which culminated in the opening of the LGBTQ Resource Center in August 2008.

The Resource Center was the first of its kind at a Jesuit institution in the United States. University President John J. DeGioia named Shiva Subbaraman the center’s first director.

Though the center is only in its third semester, it has already been thoroughly incorporated into the university, Subbaraman said.

“I do think that the center has quickly become integrated into a lot of the work that goes on in campus. . We did have a presence and role in all pre-orientation and orientation programs, and this is important,” she said.

Subbaraman added that the Resource Center has worked both to develop and to spread an awareness of the university’s Bias Reporting System, which she said has improved over the past few years.

In light of recent events, however, many members of the LGBTQ community at Georgetown remain dissatisfied with their status and safety on campus. In late October 2009, two attacks allegedly motivated by anti-gay bias occurred within one week of each other. After these two attacks, a note containing anti-gay language was posted on the door of the Resource Center – according to Subbaraman, the note was directed at her. An anti-gay verbal attack near Lauinger Library and the discovery of homophobic graffiti in Copley Hall were reported in early November.

Both McCoy and Subbaraman said that these incidents fit a larger trend across the nation.

“Across most campuses, when awareness of LGBTQ issues are raised, bias and sometimes violence towards that community escalates for a brief period of time,” McCoy said. “While I was aware of this trend, I had all hope that Georgetown, as a community, would rise above it and live up to its assertion of being unique. What we have seen recently is that Georgetown has the propensity to be common and give into this base trend.”

Subbaraman said that despite the national trend, she is confident about all that has been accomplished at Georgetown and is hopeful for the future.

“I think the university as a whole is committed towards moving the conversation [forward]” she said. “And while threats do remain, and I am deeply troubled by all that has happened, we are not that different from national trends.”