I am writing concerning the continuing lack of sensitivity toward gay, lesbian and bisexual staff members demonstrated by Staff Council. During the March meeting, Staff Council once again voted to go to Kennywood, although disparate treatment toward the gay, lesbian and bisexual community was clearly documented in the 1992 HRC Report.
Discrimination has a long history in this country. Discrimination usually takes the form of denying someone access. Groups have been systematically denied access because of their ethnicity, their religion, their sex, their physical disabilities and a host of other reasons. People are classified into these groups by the color of their skin, their name, their appearance and other categories now deemed to be irrelevant.
Being gay, lesbian or bisexual is different. No one can tell by appearance or name that a person is attracted to members of the same sex. No one can deny access to gays, lesbians or bisexuals by simply looking at them. Only when that person openly confides in others can they be identified. We are the invisible minority.
The doctrine of "Separate but Equal" was advanced to placate a growing African American civil rights movement after the Civil War. It prescribed that if different systems were provided with equal facilities, then there was no discrimination. Society advanced beyond this doctrine and realized its inherent inequalities.
Society is now providing a new doctrine for a growing gay, lesbian and bisexual civil rights movement -- "Invisible but Equal." The doctrine is simple, "It is OK to be gay, just don't let anyone know." It is evident nationally in the Pentagon's attempts to restrict the assignments of openly gay/lesbian military personnel. It is evident locally in Kennywood's refusal to permit the words "gay, lesbian and bisexual." And it is evident in Staff Council's decision to condone the disparate treatment of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, including members of the Carnegie Mellon community.
One member noted that Kennywood would also not permit the use of the word "heterosexual." They don't have to. The word is redundant. People assume that others are heterosexual. People do not realize that, as noted in one recent study, as many as 22% of the people around them have had at least one same-sex encounter. When you are a member of an invisible minority, the words that give you visibility are important. Such words are not important to the visible majority.
Being gay, lesbian or bisexual is more than just who a person sleeps with. It can effect who we socialize with, what are interests are, our creativity and our family life. Invisibility strips us of our identity.
Visibility is important to the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities for another reason. Visibility is knowledge. Many people may feel uncomfortable being around openly gay people. It has long been known that ignorance breeds fear which causes avoidance that feeds ignorance. Visibility breaks this cycle. Visibility destroys the myth that a San Francisco Pride Parade is reflective of gay and lesbian life. It permits others glimpses into lives that are otherwise hidden.
Fifteen years ago, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office explained why visibility was important.
"I'm tired of their myths. I'm tired of their distortions. I'm speaking out about it.
Gay brothers and sisters, what are you going to do about it? You must come out... to your parents... Come out to your relatives ... Come out to your friends... if they are indeed your friends... Come out to your neighbors, to your fellow workers, to the people who work where you eat and shop, come out to the people who you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and the distortions. For your sake. For their sake. For the sake of the youngsters who are becoming scared by the votes from Dade to Eugene."
Five months later, Harvey Milk was assassinated by a political rival. Fourteen years later, the voters in Springfield, Oregon, Concord California and the State of Colorado put into law the doctrine of "invisible but equal."
Madame Chair, last month Staff Council bought into this doctrine. I write to you to bring to your attention the hurt that your organization continues to inflict on members of its constituency. Certainly I cannot speak for every gay man, lesbian or bisexual individual on campus. But the feelings I express here are the feelings of many open, and not open, members of my community. The words that we use may seem like a trivial cause, but discrimination begins with trivial causes.
I ask that this matter be referred to Staff Council's Committee to Evaluate Discrimination with regards to Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual concerns.
Scott A. Safier
Representative, Staff Council, Robotics Institute