LETTER: True Diversity

To the Editor: First, as members of Penn's Eagerly Awaited Radical Ladies, we applaud both the formation and tactics of Queers Invading Penn, and note that this queer -- not homosexual -- organization has truly distinguished itself at Penn by its policy of inclusivity. QUIP--unlike the self-proclaimed conservative Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance -- is truly diverse: it aims to increase the visibility of all queer peoples -- people of color, male and female and different sexual minorities -- not by citing statistics or making excuses, but by making people who have been marginalized visible. We would also like to redress some of the inaccurate statements made by LGBA board member Jim Walsh. We find two of his claims particularly outrageous. First, PEARL has not promoted the attrition of female members from LGBA's ranks. Rather, PEARL was formed four years ago in response first to the fact that LGBA and Lambda Grad's membership was overwhelmingly male, and that these organizations resisted efforts to conduct serious outreach to the women's community and to fund events that might attract more women. The excuses offered by these groups at the time was that there were no, or at least not many, lesbian and bisexual women at Penn and that events for women might make men uncomfortable. PEARL's sustained existence, activity, high membership and increasing role on campus belies these claims. PEARL has in the past, and intends in the future, to work with any and all gay and queer groups that demonstrate a genuine commitment to diversity. However, we resent the current allegation that we are detracting from LGBA's diversity. Ultimately, Walsh's assertions that LGBA's membership is "very conservative" may explain why LGBA's track record on gender is so poor. Second, Walsh's so-called commitment to diversity translates to mere tokenism. His tactic-counting the number of people in his organization with skin that is darker than "flesh" colored stockings is at best insensitive, and at worst downright offensive. This type of appeal underscores why it is that we -- that is, anybody who is not a white male, upwardly mobile gay assimilationist -- have had so many problems feeling welcome in conservative white gay male assimilationist groups. Diversity is not only about being able to point to the number of people of color or gender parity in one's organization. It also requires a commitment to meet the needs of these community members. QUIP has demonstrated this commitment. We are still waiting for more conservative gay groups to acknowledge these needs. NICOLE BLOOM Engineering '93 ELIZABETH CLEMENT Graduate Student School of Arts and Sciences ABBY SCHRADER Graduate Student School of Arts and Sciences on behalf of the PEARL Advisory Board