The Brown & White

Students, faculty and staff discussed homophobia in the African American community at a brown bag lunch in the multicultural center on Wednesday.

Faculty and staff outnumbered students present for the discussion, and no male students were in attendance.

John McKnight, director of the multicultural affairs office, said race and sexuality are each difficult to talk about alone, but bringing them together made the discussion even more challenging.

"It was obvious that fewer people were in the room compared to other weeks," McKnight said.

Although other factors may have contributed, the content of the discussion was probably a major deterrent to student attendance, McKnight said.

Calvin John Smiley, a political science teaching assistant, said not having male students attending the discussion shows that many are not ready or willing to talk about these issues.

"We have been socialized to think that manliness is judged by strength and aggression," Smiley said. "By men engaging in homosexual acts they are not exhibiting their true masculinity."

Smiley said he was disappointed that no male students came to the discussion.

"I think that shows a lot about how stigmatized the subject is and how much homophobia there really is," he said.

Holding discussions is the center's attempt to raise student awareness, McKnight said.

"We need to be challenged to think differently and continue talking about it," McKnight said.

The students who attended said they felt Lehigh was not an open space for homosexual black students to fully be themselves.

By not having a visible black gay community on campus, people could automatically assume that it is not accepted, Megan Pendleton, '10, said.

"It is really important to see a community where you may fit into, but Lehigh doesn't really have that community so that is kind of difficult," Pendleton said.

Chelsea Crisafulli, '09, said she agreed.

"At Lehigh, people of color are already boxed into one group and do they then feel like they want to box themselves into another marginalized population on campus?" she said.

Timothy Gardner, director of LGBTQA programs and outreach, said it is important to continue talking about these issues.

"Students need to know there are places on campus to talk," Gardner said.

Within the gay community on campus there is a lot of segmentation unrelated to racial issues.

"It is, unfortunately, the stigma that if you are a member of the gay club on campus that means you're gay, which is not true," Crisafulli said.

Students not wanting to be stereotyped by being part of a more visible gay community on campus causes small "pockets" to form rather than a more united gay community.

Although race and sexual orientation are both reasons people are discriminated against, racism on campus is seen much less than homophobia, students and faculty said.

"Being a certain race is not as invisible as your sexual orientation," said Ayanna Wilcher, assistant director of career counseling and multicultural programming.

Being physically visible gets racial issues more attention, while issues like sexism and homophobia are more likely to get "swept under the rug," she said.

Homophobic comments have become so normalized into people's speech that it is difficult to try to correct people.

Phrases like "Oh, that's so gay," are heard constantly around campus, Crisafulli said.

"How many times can you stop that person and say 'Wait. Take another adjective and try again,'" Crisafulli said.

Although it would be great for insensitive comments to stop, students have to choose their battles.

"It really comes down to people just don't think about their words anymore," she said.

Smiley said he has slipped up on occasion and said things that could be considered homophobic but recognizes his mistakes and tries to correct them.

"It is those in our society who do not want to recognize or acknowledge their flaws that maintain the status quo," he said.