I have been on campus for four years and was aware of the various campus services, groups and activities, but my friends expressed a sense of total disconnectedness from other lesbigays, especially within their own school. They each said that they felt as though they were the only queers in the entire school, but knew this could not be true. We decided we did not want other first-year students to feel the same way, and made quick plans for an all-day activity on Coming Out Day.
Films such as In the Life/Stonewall 25, Homoteens, One Nation Under God, and Gay and Catholic were shown in the fourth-floor lounge from 9 to 5. The whole fourth floor was covered with brief bios and large photos of famous and not so famous queers, including many people of color, women, couples, handicapped folks, and drag queens. It turns out that one of the people on the wall is actually an alum of SIPA.
Straight students, faculty and staff were asked to wear pink, round stickers to show support for equal civil rights for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. Out queers and those who decided to come out on that day wore pink triangles. One teaching assistant came out to her professor on a crowded elevator in response to a question about the different shape of their stickers. Then, only a few minutes later, in response to a student, basically came out to the whole class.
Since that day, which ended with a reception in the Red Room at St. Paul's Chapel, our numbers have been growing, and there is a nice mix of U.S. citizens and people from other countries. There is also almost an equal balance between women and men. From the start, we have had a great deal of support from MPA Dean of Students Nancy Degnan. Members of QUIPS, Queers in Political Science, have also joined forces with us, and helped us put on a social last month.
In the future, QUIPASA will work toward the inclusion of queer concerns in the core curriculum of the Master in Public Administration and the Master in International Affairs degree programs. Gay marriages, AIDS policy, equal employment protections and civil-rights violations are all issues that should be formally discussed at SIPA. We will also work toward a more gay-friendly environment for new and prospective students.
For further information on the group, or to join us, please send a message to tjm7@columbia.edu, or you can call me at 212-795-8019.
- Tim Moriarty
GS '94, SIPA '95