Third in a series about LGBTQ issues at Georgetown.

On the third floor of the Leavey Center, down the hall from the elevator, in the back of a suite filled with other student program rooms, is the office of Bill McCoy. Brightly painted, with rainbow stickers and pamphlets dealing with LGBTQ issues lining the walls, it is a small office for McCoy’s big title: Assistant Director for Student Organizations and LGBTQ Community Resources.

McCoy looks little older than a student himself, with a wiry frame, thick brown hair, and a serious demeanor. He assumed his position at Georgetown last August, after completing a graduate program at NYU. “I was ready for a change of pace,” he explains.

And there’s no question that he got one.

Right now, McCoy serves more or less as the resource center that LGBTQ students fought for so vigorously three years ago. The center was denied by the university after a prolonged campaign by LGBTQ student activists, largely because of the center’s perceived conflicts with Catholic doctrine.

On many nights, McCoy stays in his office past 5 p.m., dealing both with LGBTQ issues and his duties as Assistant Director for Student Organizations. He spends much of his time meeting with LGBTQ students who flow in and out of his door, seeking everything from help coming out of the closet to funding for AIDS awareness week. He refers a number of them to off-campus organizations.

“I think the university has a lot of good intentions,” McCoy says. But for LGBTQ students, he can’t discount the importance of “having ownership of a space that is entirely open and comfortable for them,” he says, “because they don’t really have a space of their own right now.”

Liam Stack (COL ’05) agrees. Although he is a longtime co-facilitator of Georgetown’s coming out support group, Outspoken, he has some choice words about the status quo. “The system’s really been flying blind,” he says. “Outspoken kind of exists in this netherworld between the university and student clubs. A resource center would serve the same population Outspoken is supposed to be serving.There really isn’t someone now [for LGBTQ students] to go to on campus.”

A resource center is often the first thing out of LGBTQ students’ mouths when asked what the university can do to improve their experience on campus. The students envision it as a place akin to the Women’s Center, or the Center for Minority Educational Affairs, which would counsel students about problems, offer educational programming, and organize events and community outreach activities. Most of all, students see it as a one-stop place where they can feel safe, comfortable, and surrounded by supporters.

GU Pride Co-President Steve Snyder (SFS ’07) says the group is currently gearing up for round two of the resource center battle. While McCoy has done much good for LGBTQ students, says Snyder, his office is not necessarily a space where all students can feel comfortable.

“I completely understand where the university is coming from in terms of Catholic doctrine,” he says. “But I think it’s always good to push the university to re-examine its policies.In the past few years, the university has made impressive progress, and I think it’s going to continue to make progress.”

But Georgetown seems unlikely to change its position anytime soon. The resource center proposal originally met its demise in March 2002, when then-Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez formally rejected the student plan, citing concerns that the center “would unavoidably lead to advocacy of sexual behavior outside the context of traditional marriage.” Shortly afterwards, however, the university agreed to create an administration-level staff position responsible for LGBTQ issues.

Contacted last week, Georgetown University spokesman Julie Green Bataille reiterated Georgetown’s position against the resource center. “Georgetown tries to ensure that its offices and sponsored activities do not become venues for advocacy for practices that are counter to church teaching,” she said. “Proposals for an LGBTQ resource center cannot avoid the risk of conducting advocacy work.”

She added, “Georgetown supports the intellectual, spiritual and emotional development of all students, including those who identify as LGBTQ, in myriad ways consistent with our Catholic and Jesuit identity.”

A resource center, however, is not the only idea students have for improving the LGBTQ experience at a Catholic university. Alex Lacey (SFS ’07) has one such idea. A bright, amiable International Politics major who would rather talk about current events in Africa than the negative incident he experienced freshman year, Lacey suggests that the university devise a cohesive plan for dealing with discrimination against LGBTQ students.

Lacey’s first-year roommate had always been disapproving of his homosexuality. But the situation hit a breaking point one night when Lacey woke him up accidentally after returning from a night out. “He started yelling at me, `You’re going to hell. Your parents ruined you,'” Lacey remembers with a grimace. “Then he ripped the sheets off my bed and spat in my face.”

Lacey informed then- Interim Coordinator of LGBTQ Resources Chuck Van Sant, of the incident, and Van Sant was able to secure a room change for him within a matter of hours. Lacey’s roommate was then brought in for questioning by Georgetown’s Disciplinary Committee, but the Committee told Lacey he had to press charges with DPS. Lacey, exhausted by the situation at that point, didn’t want to deal with it anymore and declined. His roommate, to Lacey’s shock, later became a Resident Assistant.

“The university needs an explicit statement about what will happen if you discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation,” Lacey says. “It needs to be tough on discrimination.” He would also suggest a crisis hotline for LGBTQ students and an institutionalized housing placement program for students who experienced difficulties like his.

Though a resource center may be at the top of their list, LGBTQ students abound with other ideas about how to improve the LGBTQ experience at Georgetown. Kyle Holsinger-Johnson (COL ’06) suggests a “queer studies” minor. Liam Stack would like to see a counselor at CAPS who specializes in LGBTQ issues. Alex Lacey adds that the university should reach out to LGBTQ alumni, and possibly institute a scholarship for LGBTQ students whose parents have cut them off financially because of their sexuality.

The Individual Level

But the most substantial progress can’t be made by university directives. Though many LGBTQ students have found their peers at Georgetown generally accepting of their sexual identities, they still find themselves combating derogatory comments or stereotypes, which exist even among themselves.

“I hate political correctness, but people honestly have to watch what they’re saying,” Escobar says. “If they don’t mean something is homosexual, they shouldn’t call it `gay.'”

Tom Huddleston (SFS ’05) suggests that “gay” has replaced “retarded” in the book of derogatory terms for people who want to rebel against political correctness. “`Fag’ is used a lot by groups of men to assert their masculinity,” he adds.

Many students-gay and straight-also buy into stereotypes about how LGBTQ people are supposed to look and act, says Liam Stack. “They think only thin, effeminate, well-dressed white men can be gay. And only girls with short hair who don’t wear skirts [are lesbians].”

LGBTQ students point to shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and to some extent, “Will & Grace,” as perpetuating misleading stereotypes about gay men. Bill McCoy rolls his eyes when he mentions the programs. “[They] show a one-sided representation of what it’s like to be gay,” McCoy says. “So [LGBTQ students] still don’t see themselves as fitting into society, and don’t see themselves represented in the queer community.”

“I think sometimes gay students fit into that stereotype because it’s easier to fit the mold,” says Steve Snyder. And he also thinks that misperceptions exist on both sides. “Gay students can get very uptight when they’re around straight students, because they assume they won’t be accepting,” he says.

Even apparent offenses on the part of straight students are often unintentional, he adds. “I don’t expect a student who’s never met a gay student to be up to date on all the terminology.It’s not so much what you say but the intent behind what you say. I think on both sides, we need to open up a dialogue.”

A stronger gay-straight alliance is something all LGBTQ students interviewed said they would like to see. Straight students shouldn’t by shy about attending GU Pride meetings, they say. Or about participating in GU Pride-sponsored activities. Or about standing up to people who make derogatory comments about being LGBTQ.

Out of Mind

To speak to LGBTQ students about their sexuality is to open a towering psychological floodgate. These students, who on the surface seem little different from their straight counterparts, overflow with personal frustrations, memories, observations, emotions, and advice when asked about their experiences as LGBTQ individuals at Georgetown.

But the fact that these issues occupy so large a space in their consciousness seems to have less to do with psychology and more with society. If the means of LGBTQ activism is to draw attention to sexual orientation issues, the end may be just not to have to think about them so much anymore.

Alex Lacey rebounded from his negative experience freshman year to have a myriad of positive experiences at Georgetown, he says. When he felt accepted for who he was, it freed him to focus on issues other than his sexual orientation.

“It’s definitely a part of my life,” he says, “but I have so many other things in my life, too.”

He starts talking about good books, live music acts, Eastern Market, and development in Africa. His sexual identity, for the moment, is completely out of his mind.

His eyes are shining.