One consistent thing that the people I’ve interviewed have talked about is that TLU has had LGBTQIA+ organizations for a long time. In fact, almost every person I’ve interviewed—past and present students—has been a member of S.A.F.E. or whatever equivalent was offered at the time. Some of you may now be wondering, “What’s S.A.F.E.?” That’s understandable as we’re not a huge organization—yet. S.A.F.E. (Sexual Awareness For Everyone) is a student-led group for LGBTQIA+ students and allies alike that offers a safe space to its members. (If you’re interested in joining, I’ll feature instructions on how to do that at the end of this article!)
But before we get too far into S.A.F.E., let’s look back a ways, to the years 2005-2009. Instead of S.A.F.E., back then there was S.A.G.A.—the Straight And Gay Alliance. Ruth Esther Stevens Harmon was its president for a semester (before having to step down due to an injury) and described it as a place where the LGBTQIA+ friends who she was an ally to could feel a little bit more secure in expressing themselves. Ruth reported that the LGBTQIA+ students she knew would often “shy away” from expressing their identity due to some uncomfortable past experiences. However, she said that her friends felt more comfortable in S.A.G.A., knowing that there was a safety net of people who understood and cared for them at TLU.
Jumping forward a bit to the years 2010-2014, S.A.G.A. had become G.S.A., the Gay Straight Alliance. Katy Wallace, a re-founding member who identified as lesbian at the time but now identifies as queer and gender-nonconforming/nonbinary, explained to me that they thought the experience was good overall, but that it was mostly made up of allies, because while there were a number LGBTQIA+ students at TLU, they mostly hung out among themselves in non-organization friend groups. Katy also mentioned that the group was “painfully hard” to organize.
Next, Randy Lee Lyn, a gay guy who was a student at TLU from 2011-2015, reported that S.A.G.A. (we’re back to that name) wasn’t perfect. “I was in the SAGA organization, but they were a bit cliquey, so I joined Sigma Phi Theta. Through Greek life I was able to bond with other people who were gay, and I built relationships with them. I didn’t feel invited to the alliance,” Lyn said—an ironic but honest perspective.
Haley Czarnek, who identifies as queer, served as secretary of the G.S.A./S.A.G.A. (she referred to it as either) during her years at TLU from 2012-2016. When asked about that experience, she said that “queer organizations and events were in no way beneficial to me as a student.” She said that the leadership of the organization was “consistently made up of mostly straight (and all white) people,” which wasn’t very helpful to her.
In today’s S.A.F.E. group, one current member reported that they felt frustrated when they first arrived on campus, because there wasn’t already an organization in place. “Not having the framework already in place was frustrating because it felt like it was my responsibility to put it together for others and keep it up, but I kept running out of energy to do it on top of my other schoolwork.” Their recommendation: that TLU make a concerted effort to consistently have resources in place, and reach out more actively to incoming freshmen.
The current vice president of S.A.F.E., Gil Lares, says S.A.F.E. is the first LGBTQIA+ club he’s ever belonged to, and that it’s shown how important it is for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, such as himself, to have one another to lean on, and to be able to connect and share experiences. He said that it’s nice to offer this experience to freshmen so that they’ll feel comfortable right from the beginning of their years at TLU.
All in all, TLU’s history of LGBTQIA+ organizations is varied, and has had its share of ups and downs. Moving forward, students and university should work together to build the program and reach out to students who are considering attending TLU—so that they’ll know that if they come to TLU, they’ll have a group of friends and advocates ready and waiting. If you would like to join S.A.F.E. and be a part of this ongoing story, here’s how: Contact Breanna, current S.A.F.E. president bmrobinson@tlu.edu or call 512-905-8990 or current vice president Gil at Gilares@tlu.edu
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