Conference: Create 'safe space' for gay students
By Nicole LaPrade
Catholic universities should create a "safe space" for exploring issues surrounding homosexuality, according to a first-of-its-kind national conference here last weekend.
The conference, called "Out There," brought more than 140 faculty, staff and student-affairs professionals from around the country together to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) issues at such religious institutions.
"While we all have different issues in some way, oppression hurts us in exactly the same way: in our hearts," said keynote speaker Ronni Sanlo, director of the LGBT Resource Center of the University of California at Los Angeles.
The conference marked a milestone in discussing these issues in the Catholic context, especially because of the recent tensions in the Church with regard to sexual-preference issues, said Lisa Millora, assistant dean in the Office of Student Life and co-organizer of the conference.
The conference received funding from both Campus Ministry and the Office of Student Life, and University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., sent a welcome letter to participants.
"There are a lot of people who subscribe to Catholic values as they relate to academic work, but don't necessarily agree with how the Catholic Church carries out its work," Millora said.
Topics discussed at the conference included, "Curriculum and Same-Sex Marriage in a Catholic University" and "Can I Be Gay and Catholic?"
The conference opened with a student panel discussing diversity in ethnicity and sexuality in Catholic higher education.
"So often, in gay communities, it is an oxymoron; you can't be of faith, and in faith communities, you can't be gay," junior James Servino said of his personal experiences, both as a Catholic and as a gay man.
More than 40 institutions came to the conference, including Georgetown, Boston College and the University of San Francisco.
"It doesn't really seem to be the case for example that you can just say across the board that Catholic universities are repressive but public universities are supportive. It's not anywhere near that simple," conference co-organizer Linda Garber said.
"Santa Clara has been very supportive of our efforts," Garber said. "At the same time, it's important to understand that for example at University of Notre Dame, their student LGBT group is not officially sanctioned, so they're not allowed to officially use campus buildings for their meetings. They're not allowed to have a name that officially associates them with the university."
"So, it really varies. And at DePaul, there is a minor in gay and lesbian studies. So, there's a real range," she said.
Garber, an English professor and director of the women's and gender studies program, said that discussion of LGBTQ issues is common in the academic community and there is a range of attitudes at colleges and universities across the country, religious and secular.
"Jesuit campuses, as well as the other kinds of Catholic universities, really highlight the role of social justice in our educational mission, and so in a certain way we have additional opportunities and responsibilities to discuss LGBTQ issues, to look out for LGBTQ students in addition to the standard that is practiced in higher education today," Garber said.
Says Millora: "This says to the Jesuit world of higher education and higher education in American society that we stand behind issues of social justice and we educate the whole person -- mind, body and spirit. But it also means that we see the whole person, not just the parts we choose to."
Garber said if she were to have "one big goal," it would be that the university itself should be a "safe space."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Nicole LaPrade at (408) 554-4546 or at nlaprade@scu.edu.