Column: LGBT: Duke's invisible minority

I wake-up in the morning, dress and walk hand-in-hand to the bus with my girlfriend. I kiss her good-bye and tell her I'll see her later, no one stares or points. I go to classes and work, do some reading and meet my girlfriend for dinner. We walk through the gardens, unmolested and unnoticed. We go to her room, do homework and retire to our respective abodes.

Then I wake-up from my dream and live my life the way it really is, as a homosexual student at Duke. What seems possible to most Duke students is a fantasy for me. I can't hold my girlfriend's hand unmolested, I can't participate in a queer campus group without receiving hate mail and I can't display gay pride without my property defaced. Many gay students and allies are verbally and physically threatened and harassed. These circumstances create a very real fear that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students deal with on a daily basis. I don't perceive the larger Duke community to be anything other than what it has presented itself to me to be, intimidating and non-affirming.

In my experience, the Duke community is at best tolerant. Yet, I don't want to be tolerated. Tolerance implies annoyance and is often followed by, "as long as you don't 'flaunt' it." If I hold hands with my girlfriend, someone will say I'm "flaunting" my homosexuality. Heterosexual couples do this everyday without suffering repercussions. I'm not trying to force anyone to "agree" with homosexuality, I'm asking for my right to live as I desire without restrictions. Some homosexuals would like to get married and adopt kids, others don't, but we don't even have the option.

In the Duke environment, students should have choices. Duke could be a more affirming environment if it legitimated the LGBT community. I envision a welcome place for gay and lesbian students in all campus groups, an open environment where LGBT students can hold hands and straight students can attend Alliance of Queer Undergraduate Students at Duke events without someone assuming or caring if they're gay. I imagine an institution with open and honest discourse about homosexuality, religion, gender, sex, class and how those subjects intersect.

Duke could be capable of providing education on LGBT issues, where the Center for LGBT Life isn't the only resource for gay students. Duke could be the university to make a difference in the way lesbians and gays are perceived by listening to the needs of homosexual students inside and outside of the classroom. The Center for LGBT Life, a division of Student Affairs, is an advantage to the LGBT community that not all minorities have. However, the Center cannot be solely responsible for providing education and affirmation for lesbian and gay faculty, staff and students, especially not with a cramped and inadequate facility. In my vision, the Sexuality Studies Program is revamped, and other disciplines could include courses that would show students that this invisible minority crosses all racial, national, and socio-economic boundaries.

Other campus groups take some of the responsibility in making their gay members feel comfortable and safe by providing information and programming on LGBT issues and how they affect their communities. Instead of providing funding and asking for anonymity, student groups can work with queer organizations such as the AQUA at Duke. As of now AQUA Duke and Duke Allies bear the responsibility of educating the greater Duke community. And people wonder why we need the funding we receive.

Our requests are ignored. The gay community had been fighting for same-sex unions in the Chapel for years, and the issue was only addressed through the Duke Student Government agenda. The request was granted for religious diversity. It appears like the university was and perhaps still is afraid to offend its morally conservative alumni by taking the lead on LGBT rights.

It probably won't happen while I'm a student, and it may not happen in the next decade, but Duke has potential to be an affirming environment. Some individuals are taking steps by being SAFE trained, attending Speak OUT panels and taking one of the few sexuality courses. Nevertheless, Duke has a long way to go. Until we join as a community, LGBT students, faculty and staff will bear a heavy load in educating an educational institution.