By Janelle Henderson
In an America that is increasingly divided on the issue of homosexuality, commonGround is still striving to grant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students the same freedom given to heterosexuals: the freedom to be themselves.
CommonGround began in 1995, after the dissolution of the Gay and Lesbian or Bisexual Alliance (GLOBAL), and currently serves over 200 members. Although best known for PINK, the organization’s annual drag show and fundraiser, and the Ken Terrill Memorial Scholarship, commonGround strives to advocate, educate, and support the university population, not merely LGBT students.
“This is one of the only places for LGBT students to turn,” said James Taylor, the organization’s president for two years running. “Also, commonGround is the leading advocate for LGBT issues on campus. We asked for Safe Zone and the Office for LGBT Services; we pushed for sexual orientation to be added to the nondiscrimination clause; we host tons of successful events and hold weekly meetings to support LGBT students. We also send panelists to classroom discussions, help with Safe Zone trainings, and we form a community that is welcoming to everyone.”
Despite being a group devoted to gay rights, membership in commonGround is open to everyone, and is free of charge.
ÒAnyone can become a member of commonGround, really,” Taylor said. “You don’t have to pay membership, you don’t have to give your name, and you don’t have to be LGBT. We want everyone on campus to feel safe as a member of commonGround, so we do not keep membership lists. We don’t charge outrageous membership dues because we want students to be involved because they want to, not because they can afford to be.”
Heterosexual members of commonGround, or those wanting to advocate gay rights, can become allies and receive training for Safe Zone, a program helping faculty, staff and students understand LGBT issues, such as the coming out process, demystifying stereotypes, and how to help LGBT students.
Whether or not you agree with homosexuality, commonGround adviser and assistant director of Admissions Danielle Bristow wants students to realize that commonGround is like any other group trying to give its members support and their rights a voice.
“I really want them to know commonGround is a student-run organization, just like the other 200 RSOs on campus,” Bristow said. “These students are no different than other students in any other club or organization on campus. Whether you approve of the group or not, they do serve a large number of students who need to feel supported by the university and they need a place where they feel at home.”
On Wednesday, commonGround paid homage to voiceless homosexuals with the Day of Silence, a national effort where students took a day-long vow of silence to protest harassment and discrimination of LGBT students and their allies. The celebration included a lecture given on Thursday by Faisal Alam, the founder and former director of Al-Fatiha, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning Muslims.
“It is important for [Alam] to speak because he represents a portion of the LGBT community we don’t see as well,” Taylor said. “The stereotype is that all LGBT means is white gay men. That’s just not true; we have members from every race who are involved in almost every organization on campus, including the Baptist Student Union, fraternities and sororities, Campus Crusade for Christ, College Democrats and College Republicans, and the McConnell Center. Many people are not represented by the stereotype.”
CommonGround has ambitious goals for next year, including a larger Pride Week, with more money spent on a well-known speaker, increasing membership, a center for LGBT students, and gender identity and gender expression to be added to the university’s nondiscrimination clause to ensure the university’s alignment with local fairness laws. Above all, they want to claim for themselves the rights that heterosexuals take for granted.
“We are not here to fight against anyone else,” Taylor said. “Would it be bad if LGBT students felt as safe as everyone else? Would it be bad if LGBT students could live in the dorms without being harassed? Would it be bad if professors couldn’t mistreat LGBT students? I don’t think so.”
For more information on commonGround, or to become a member, visit their Web site at http://www.louisville.edu/rso/commonground.
