Spring Break
The Daily OrangeFusion program gives LGBT minorities safe haven
By Zac Cummings
Posted: 9/17/07, 8:33 PM EST Section: Opinion
Let me begin by saying that I am a staunch supporter of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights. But when I first heard about the LGBT Center's Fusion program, I almost lost it. The flyer for the program says the monthly discussion group provides "a place for LGBT students, faculty and staff of color to gather and celebrate the diversity within the LGBT community."
My first impression: This program was insulating a minority group twice over from the real world. The program, I thought, inhibited interactive diversity and was only marginalizing the Syracuse University LGBT community to a greater extent.
My opinion changed after I spoke with Amit Taneja, assistant director of the LGBT Center and co-coordinator of Fusion. He described how LGBT people of color are "caught in the middle" between their ethnic communities, many of which see homosexuality as taboo, and the LGBT community, where racism exists. This no-man's land is a lonely, uncertain place, Taneja said, so he established Fusion to nurture "a safe environment where all their identities are confirmed."
Taneja described how the four-year-old program started out with two or three participants, but slowly grew to its current size of nearly 20, with several international students. He told me that previous members of the group have gone on to become leaders in student organizations as diverse as Pride Union and even the College Republicans.
I realized then how the Fusion program is encouraging private support groups that previous minority groups developed in their heyday. Private tea parties incubated the women's rights movement. The same was true of black churches for the civil rights movement. But it was easier to organize those events because women could easily identify other women, and blacks could easily identify other blacks.
The same is not true of members of the LGBT community. They need a mediator and a private place to discuss and confirm their identities and, finally, to boast those identities in public. Right now, LGBT members of color cannot do that. A 2003 report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network showed that a majority of LGBT youth of color felt "unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation," and almost half were harassed for their sexual orientation and race. The report also said that 65 percent of the time, school faculty chooses not to intervene in these incidents.
After my interview with Taneja, I went to the Student Involvement Fair and passed the LGBT Center's table. Before I walked by, I picked up a rainbow pin that said "Ally" across it. On the second day of wearing it, someone came up to me and said, "Thanks for rocking the pin" and walked away.
As a white, heterosexual male, I learned that I am not isolated from the civil right's movement of our day. I learned that now is my chance to make a difference for others.
I learned that now is my chance to rock the pin.
Zac Cummings is a biweekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at zacummin@syr.edu.
My first impression: This program was insulating a minority group twice over from the real world. The program, I thought, inhibited interactive diversity and was only marginalizing the Syracuse University LGBT community to a greater extent.
My opinion changed after I spoke with Amit Taneja, assistant director of the LGBT Center and co-coordinator of Fusion. He described how LGBT people of color are "caught in the middle" between their ethnic communities, many of which see homosexuality as taboo, and the LGBT community, where racism exists. This no-man's land is a lonely, uncertain place, Taneja said, so he established Fusion to nurture "a safe environment where all their identities are confirmed."
Taneja described how the four-year-old program started out with two or three participants, but slowly grew to its current size of nearly 20, with several international students. He told me that previous members of the group have gone on to become leaders in student organizations as diverse as Pride Union and even the College Republicans.
I realized then how the Fusion program is encouraging private support groups that previous minority groups developed in their heyday. Private tea parties incubated the women's rights movement. The same was true of black churches for the civil rights movement. But it was easier to organize those events because women could easily identify other women, and blacks could easily identify other blacks.
The same is not true of members of the LGBT community. They need a mediator and a private place to discuss and confirm their identities and, finally, to boast those identities in public. Right now, LGBT members of color cannot do that. A 2003 report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network showed that a majority of LGBT youth of color felt "unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation," and almost half were harassed for their sexual orientation and race. The report also said that 65 percent of the time, school faculty chooses not to intervene in these incidents.
After my interview with Taneja, I went to the Student Involvement Fair and passed the LGBT Center's table. Before I walked by, I picked up a rainbow pin that said "Ally" across it. On the second day of wearing it, someone came up to me and said, "Thanks for rocking the pin" and walked away.
As a white, heterosexual male, I learned that I am not isolated from the civil right's movement of our day. I learned that now is my chance to make a difference for others.
I learned that now is my chance to rock the pin.
Zac Cummings is a biweekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at zacummin@syr.edu.
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