LV Life

Student club to tackle homophobia

Daniel L. Loera, Multicultural Affairs Director, conducts the second meeting of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Alliance Club last Friday. The meeting's main topic was the purpose of the club and what it will represent. Also the question of formalizing the club, advertising, and setting up future meetings were addressed. / photo by Juan Garcia
Daniel L. Loera, Multicultural Affairs Director, conducts the second meeting of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Alliance Club last Friday. The meeting’s main topic was the purpose of the club and what it will represent. Also the question of formalizing the club, advertising, and setting up future meetings were addressed. / photo by Juan Garcia

by Crystal Apilado
Features Editor

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies support group has begun to rebuild for a third time at the University of La Verne.

“The need is apparent and obvious,” said Daniel Loera, Multicultural Affairs director and one of four advisors for the GLBTA.

Loera added that he is concerned about what kind of support mechanism are available on the topic for the students at the university.

Loera said that he put the word out about the possibility of starting up the group again and received some support from the ULV community.

The first organizational meeting, Oct. 5, was attended by undergraduate, CAPA and doctoral students as well as staff and faculty.

All were aware of the need for a support group for these students and the need to eliminate fears based on misinformation.

The meeting was a first step for many participants to give and receive support.

Participants were also able to validate their sexuality status and acknowledge their feelings and views of living in today’s society with it.

They also discussed; what they wanted from the group as individuals, who they were going to represent and what the group would contribute to the campus and the community .

Loera said that people were excited to come together and start working toward becoming a bona fide campus club.

In the past the group suffered from a weak structure and lack of focus.

He added that its first order of business is internal team building and creating a strong backbone to help support the group.

Also to focus in on creating strong and effective programs and events to help educate and advocate out to the uniformed and mislead.

The group is going to hold off on hosting or putting on any functions on campus for a while.

Although they did help out the residential life staff with National Coming Out Day Oct. 11. A table was set out and rainbow ribbons were distributed.

“Part of my lens is looking at issues of diversity and attempt to be as expansive and inclusive as we can in terms of creating opportunities for people to really just be who they are,” Loera said.

Besides Loera, club advisors are financial aid officer Garrett Terrones, resident coordinator Johane Metellus and Raymond Scott of the behavioral sciences faculty.

The group is working on recruiting those interested in challenging themselves and working on personal growth, all of which GLBTA will offer.

“We want each to check oneself on their own homophobia,” Loera said.

“People need to come together and talk and do some growing,” he said.

The group also has created a committee to start drafting a constitution for the group.

The members are looking at the constitutions of similar groups at other universities to use as models.

“We are learning as an organization what others are doing,” Loera said.

In the meantime, the group is looking into speakers whom they might bring to campus and other ways of educating the ULV community.

Members plan to attend an upcoming speaking events at Cal Poly Pomona, with speaker Cherrie Moraga, who is a nationally known advocate on lesbianism and feminism.

GLBTA is also looking into working with the theater department and hosting discussions which will coincide with the theme and topics touched in the play “Cloud 9.”

The discussions will be held either prior to or directly after the performance and will discuss sexuality and gender identity issues.

Students will be able share their experiences, ideas and values with others.

Loera said he was surprised that ULV didn’t already have such a group on campus.

“An injustice at a university is to not have a place where people can explore themselves and share their experiences with others,” he said adding that it’s great to have a such a forum on campus. “It’s fitting. It’s time.”

Crystal Apilado, Features Editor
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