Gay, lesbian program expands membership

By Jesse Stephenson
The Metropolitan

A student fee funded program for gay, lesbian and bisexual students at Metro is expanding its services this fall to include Aurariaâs transgender and transsexual students.

Karen Bensen, coordinator of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Trans Student Services, said while transsexual and transgender students are not necessarily homosexual, they face much of the same discrimination  homosexual students face and should have access to the programâs services.

Transsexual students are defined as those who have had or plan to get a sex change.

Transgender students can include cross-dressers, drag queens, and ãbutchä lesbians, Bensen said, adding that about a dozen students who are ãtransä have become involved in the GLBTSS program since last year.

ãWe have been excluding a part of the student population,ä Bensen said. ãThe reason why it makes sense to add this group is because they are oppressed in much the same way that gays and lesbians are oppressed.ä

Kerrie Dallman, GLBTSS program assistant and vice president of Auraria Queer Alliance, said people on campus are becoming more accepting of homosexual and ãtransä students.

Dallman, who started at Metro in 1988, said sheâs much more comfortable being a lesbian on campus now than she was when she first came to Metro.

ãI found the climate to be not as hospitable as it is now,ä Dallman said. ãWhen I sit in class, I feel safe enough to say, Îmy girlfriend and I,â and to be out on this campus.ä

But others say it is still difficult to be ãtransä at Auraria.

Alex Denson, president of Straight But Not Narrow, a club for allies of gay, lesbian, bisexual
and ãtransä students, said she often feels the sting of being someone who is transgendered.

ãIâm a tomboy, and people give me a lot of crap for having short hair and being as masculine as I am,ä she said.

Denson said that because she is not lesbian, she cannot know firsthand what it is like to be discriminated against for being gay, but all gay, lesbian and trans students share a common thread.

ãEach form of discrimination and oppression is going to be different, but everyone who has ever been discriminated against has some insight into the experience of others who have also experienced discrimination,ä Denson said.

The GLBTSS program offers a library with books, videos, speech workshops, and leadership and ãsafe zoneä training. People who participate in ãsafe zoneä training learn about gay issues and get a certificate at the end of the training course.

The GLBTSS program also sponsors keynote speakers throughout the year and during the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Trans Awareness Month in October. Money to fund GLBTSS comes from student fees collected from students at each Auraria college.

This yearâs GLBTSS budget is $46,184.

For more information about the GLBTSS program, call 556-6333 or visit the office in the Tivoli Room 311.