Baker becomes the new Wizard of Oz

New director, 27, will lead GLBT community into new, cutting-edge territories

They say life goes in circles. And for this friend of Dorothy, the Yellow Brick Road has done a 360 of sorts.

Last week, after two years away from Auraria Campus, D. Nico Baker returned to take on one of the most daunting tasks imaginable.

Baker is the newly appointed director of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Student Services. And the ruby slippers he has to fill are pretty big: Karen Bensen, who had been in that position for more than 12 years, wore them. But Baker knows that all too well. He told me replacing Bensen might be impossible. He worked alongside her for six semesters as a student and intern and he saw first-hand the magic she had with students, fellow directors, administrators and members of the community at large.

"I'm in Karen's position, but I'm not filling her shoes," Baker said. "She and this office did some amazing work."

She also touched many more hearts locally, Baker said.

"She helped so many students-made connections, and I hope to continue that," he said.

Perhaps that's why he was hired. Steve Monaco, director of the Health Center, told me Baker was hired for his interpersonal skills. After leaving the campus with a degree, he worked at Urban Peak with GLBT Homeless Youth. There, he worked helping queer youth-usually ones who had been kicked out of their homes for being gay-get back on their feet.

"Going home from the homeless center, it felt like I was beaten up every day," Baker sighed.

But, he was all smiles on his eighth day of work, when we sat down and chatted.

Baker said he never imagined returning to Metro, let alone to the office where he worked for most of his college career.

"I was thinking about coming back to school for my master's, but I never thought of coming back to the office," he said.

Still unclear about what master's program he may enroll in, Baker is sure he is the change the GLBTSS office needs.

Born in Mexico City, he grew up in Durango and is not only an out and proud homosexual but is also an out and proud small-town boy.

Baker told me he knew he was gay when he was 11, but made the "grand exit" out of the closet when he was 15. Since then, GLBT issues have been his issues. He began work with PFLAG, an organization of parents of queer youth. He helped the organization by showing newly out gay teens the ropes of the community.

"I took care of the new queens on block," he said.

Then, when he moved to Denver, he began working at Rainbow Alley, the youth branch of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Community Services Center of Colorado.

Being gay and in a small town isn't easy but Baker took it all in stride.

Coming from a small town also has its advantages. He said he uses his sense of community-which you can't get in any big city-to his advantage. He is more personal in building a community.

"It's something I bring to everything I do."

Baker said he planned on using those techniques to bring more cohesiveness to the campus and the larger Denver GLBT community.

Baker told me he saw a dichotomy in Denver's queer community. There isn't as much solidarity as during the Amendment Two, "being gay is illegal in Colorado" days. We've become disassociated, he said.

He pointed to a parallel on a societal scale.

"It's the same on the national level," Baker said. "There are two groups, the rich white gay males and everyone else."

Everyone else being: bisexuals, lesbians, transgender and other subcultures including gays of different ethnic backgrounds and even more alternative lifestyles, such as punk, emo and Republicans.

While Baker said the office staff and the Auraria community would set the objectives of the office, he has his own ideas he'd like to see played out.

First, he wants the office to play a larger role in the Denver community.

He also wants the students of Auraria to become closer.

"I'd love to hear students are meeting at campus instead of the clubs," he said.

He also wants to keep up the office's good reputation on and off campus.

"Karen had so many great relationships on campus and I want to continue that."

Nationally, Metro's GLBT Office is known for cutting-edge programs, including, more recently, pushing for unisex bathrooms and gender awareness literature in college policy manuals.

Bensen was the director of the GLBTSS Office for more than a decade. When asked if he plans a similar tenure, Baker laughed.

"That's what I call a long-term relationship," he said. "That may be a golden anniversary in gay time."

But, the Christmas after Baker came out, his mother gave him a silver ring with an upside-down triangle, a symbol of pride and unity in the gay community. That was over 10 years ago.

"I haven't taken it off since," he said as he toyed with it.

If you ask me, this boy cares. And I don't think he's going anywhere. The Yellow Brick Road looks pretty promising.