Spectrum continues quest to abolish stereotypes on campus

      As the Maryland Senate prepares to vote on the issue of same-sex marriage this week, Spectrum is gearing up for an event-filled semester. Just hours after the Maryland House of Delegates passed the Civil Marriage Protection Act of 2012, 12 members of Loyola's Spectrum group joined hundreds of Baltimore-area college students at the Bmore Proud Conference at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Saturday to learn about issues in the LGBT community. Spectrum hopes to bring this awareness and enthusiasm back to Loyola.

     The daylong event featured lectures, performances and discussions that focused on a range of topics, including "Why Catholics Support Marriage Equality," led by Francis Debernardo.

     Sophomore Spectrum member Julia Tigani said, "[Debernardo] told me an interesting fact—that about half of all Catholics surveyed in 2011 were supportive of gay marriage, but the media often only presents the viewpoints of those who are against it." Tigani, who is from New York where same-sex marriage is legal, is hopeful that Maryland will be the next state to enforce marriage equality.

     One of the highlights of the Bmore Proud Conference was a performance by spoken word artist Andrea Gibson, who will appear at Loyola's annual Sexual Diversity Awareness week. Her emotional performance, which featured stories of brutality and discrimination against gays in the military, brought audience members to tears.

     In addition to Sexual Diversity Awareness Week, Spectrum is planning new events for the spring. The sale of Human Rights Campaign bracelets, "Live Gay Acts" and the creation of a Campus Climate Index are also in the works, according to sophomore Eric Oropesa, Spectrum's vice president of Campus Awareness.

     Spectrum's Live Gay Acts campaign hopes to break down stereotypes about homosexuality on campus. Oropesa said, "Live Gay Acts is when we take certain areas of campus and rope them off and put up a sign that says ‘live gay acts' where members will sit and eat lunch and talk or read to show we are no different than the rest of the community."

     Oropesa hopes that as vice president he will be able to begin the difficult process of establishing Loyola's profile on Campus Climate Index, a website that measures the gay-friendliness of colleges across the country. Currently, Loyola does not appear at all on the website, which could prevent potential students from attending the university since they would not be able to know the Loyola community's attitude towards gays. However, the index rating is based on surveys and questionnaires that are time consuming and detailed, so the process would not happen overnight.

     Tigani thinks that Loyola is already doing a good job of accepting people of all sexual orientations. She said, "One of the great things about Loyola is that I've never felt like a second class citizen here. I'm totally out and no one has ever judged me for it. No one has made any comments about it. Even people I didn't expect to support me did, and I love that about Loyola." She was also excited to see that CCSJ sponsored a viewing of the film Milk, which is the story of former California senator Harvey Milk. Tigani said, "It's a movie about a gay man, and an organization that isn't Spectrum is showing it. There is just so much acceptance on this campus."

     Despite these feelings of acceptance and positivity, Spectrum members are continuing their efforts to make even more progress toward diversity and community on campus.

     Spectrum has worked hard to progress over the years, but there is still work to be done. Oropesa said, "Spectrum used to be held in a basement with just Dr. Lopresto and five other members. At the Student Activities Fair in September we had over five full pages of sign ups. Now it's held in a brightly lit room and there are fliers all over the place. There's no reason to be in secret anymore. In another 10 years, who knows where Spectrum will be. We'll hopefully be on the Campus Climate Index with a good rating, and we'll hopefully increase diversity."

     Loyola Spectrum meets every other Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Claver Multicultural Center. The next meeting will focus on planning for Sexual Diversity Awareness Week. Tigani and Oropesa stressed that the meetings are open to people of all sexual orientations.

     "People feel like they can't come because they're not gay, lesbian or transgender. We advocate all the time that allies are welcome. The more support we have will break boundaries," Oropesa said.