Allies for acceptance

The grand opening of the new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center at 3907 Spruce Street last week marked a milestone for the LGBT community.

But the new building is intended to serve more than just LGBT students. The Center is meant to be a resource for everyone.

One group in particular is working to make sure that is the case.

Allies is a student organization housed at the new Center that seeks to educate the community at large about LGBT-related issues. It is comprised of students of all sexual orientations, but primarily targets its message toward the heterosexual population.

The group was originally founded with the idea of advocacy in mind.

Allies was started in the fall of 1998 by three heterosexual students -- Heather Lockridge, Leily Saadat-Lajevardi and Francesca Mead. The three women had attended a vigil held on College Green for Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was beaten to death because of his sexuality, and were disappointed in the turnout at the memorial.

They sought to do something to improve campus involvement in issues of sexual orientation. That year, the students created Allies.

"It was started as a way for heterosexual people to provide tangible support for the LGBT community," College senior and Allies Co-Chairwoman Aviva Moster said.

The group now sponsors workshops like Queer 101, which breaks down LGBT issues. It also holds events like a celebration on National Freedom to Marry Day.

Allies Co-Chairwoman Sara Fernandes-Taylor says the group's work is important because there are many issues facing the LGBT community that many people do not understand. Educating the larger community about these issues can help fight discrimination.

"The more awareness there is of that discrimination, I think, the more support people will have to overcome those obstacles," the College senior says.

In addition, the group seeks to promote acceptance of members of the LGBT community.

"Queer politics is important for people to understand but even more basic than that is how to deal with someone who's gay," says Engineering junior and Allies Publicity Chairman Beau Roberts.

Engineering junior and Queer Student Alliance Managing Director Steven Lauridsen says he believes the advocacy Allies provides is crucial.

"When a part of the established normal majority says this is the way it should be, this group deserves to be treated equally, it adds an extra weight," Lauridsen says.

Since its creation, Penn students have become involved in Allies for a variety reasons.

Moster had never been involved in LGBT issues before coming to Penn. But she joined Allies her freshman year when she felt uncomfortable with students saying things like, "That's so gay," and "Hey, fag."

"When I found out about Allies I thought it was unfortunately a very necessary group on campus," Moster says. "I felt like until it wasn't necessary here any more that it was something I wanted to be working for."

Roberts came out of the closet his senior year in high school. He was the only person who was openly gay in his 600-student school.

"I had to make a welcoming atmosphere for myself just by educating my friends," Roberts says.

"You do that on an individual basis when you're gay... but I wanted something that was more institutionalized and could reach more people," he adds.

Some students also use Allies as an intermediate step in the coming-out process.

No one is asked to disclose their sexual preference at Allies meetings, so the group serves as a safe place for everyone to explore their sexuality.

"It is an atmosphere where they can discuss issues about sexuality or just hear it being discussed in a positive light," Roberts says.

For the most part, members of Allies say they have been well-received within the Penn community.

"I've been pleasantly surprised a lot of the time at people's curiosity," Moster says. "People come up to us and want to be educated."

Occasionally, however, the group has met resistance.

Allies members say people on Locust Walk sometimes crumple up Allies flyers and throw them on the ground. Others reject the volunteers completely and say they do not support the cause.

"Some people I guess are so homophobic that they think that anything that touches on the LGBT community they're scared of," Lauridsen says.

However, despite occasional opposition, Allies has continued to grow over the last several years.

The group now boasts a listserv of over 100 participants and has a core group of 15 to 20 active members.

Allies members will be staffing a table on Locust Walk for National Coming Out Day next week and will be displaying a Queer History Timeline at the end of the month.

They continue to reach out to everyone they can, promoting understanding and acceptance throughout the community.

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