Membership and campus support of the Nicholls Gay/Straight Alliance has increased since the protest by Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., against the organization in April.GSA leaders said the growth of the organization is not due to the actual protest but to the heightened visibility the GSA received as a result. This semester, the GSA is organizing projects and events of its own to continue expanding its acceptance.
“The protest opened up eyes for all,” Joe Wallace, GSA president, said. “For us, Nicholls became a safe place; for other students, they realized the University won’t stand by and tolerate hatred. Now we’re trying to prove to people that we’re a real organization that does things for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike.”
GSA’s membership has doubled from 20 to 40 students from last semester, and 76 students are members of the group on Facebook, an online social network for colleges. Wallace said this is the first time a group of this nature has remained strong on the campus for an extended time.
Previous attempts to form withstanding gay/lesbian organizations on the campus have failed because of difficulties recruiting the required 10-member minimum for campus organizations. Jana Hubbell, GSA adviser, attributes the GSA’s strength to its inclusion of heterosexuals, a factor missing in the previous organizations.
“Straight people feel comfortable coming to the GSA’s events,” Hubbell said. “Those who are gay, straight or questioning know they won’t be asked their orientation or judged. However, once people go to meetings, they usually don’t feel ashamed to say their orientation.”
Also since the protest, Wallace has seen more members publicly recognizing their sexual orientation and membership in GSA, which can be kept confidential.
“We still want to offer confidentiality, but people are being more open, more bold,” Wallace said. “We don’t want to be in the shadows anymore. We want to be a visible part of the community.”
At the GSA’s first meeting in February, approximately 10 members gathered to discuss the goals of the organization and common issues for gays. However, a month later, on March 18, the University received faxes from Westboro Baptist Church that referred to Nicholls as “fag-infested” and said that “God hates fags and Nicholls for leading kids to hell.”
James Butler, Nicholls associate professor of sociology, said the significant impact of this protest was that it generated discussion of the issue in the community and classrooms. He said protests usually result in citizens becoming more informed of both sides of the debated issue.
“I thought the protest was very effective whether you agree with it or not,” Butler said. “In our culture, young folks have not been protesting issues, so it was refreshing to see them taking an interest in an issue that is germane to American culture. I appreciate the involvement of Nicholls students who took a stance and hope they find other issues they deem important to take a position on.”
Jael Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church member who protested at Nicholls, said counter-protests have not been uncommon among their more than 100 university protests in the United States and Canada.
“Our protests usually cause students to rise up in one voice against us, which tells us that’s actually why we should be there,” Phelps said. “Certain college classes try to conform students into thinking that pro-gay is fine, but it’s not fine.”
Nevertheless, Wallace said the University and student body support helped reaffirm the need for GSA and boosted the organization. “They did us a favor by making advertising a lot easier; even the outlying community has heard about us,” he said.
So far this semester, the GSA sponsored an information table in the Bollinger Memorial Student Union on Oct. 11 for National Coming Out Day where they distributed pamphlets on gay/lesbian issues and purple ribbons for gay rights awareness.
The GSA education committee has also been organizing a safe space program on campus, Hubbell said. Offices of participating faculty and staff will become locations for students to report harassment, discuss concerns and get referred to other on-campus and off-campus services. Involved faculty and staff will have designated tags on their offices and will be provided with information on referral resources.
Hubbell said partnering with other organizations to organize service projects has been the GSA’s challenge this semester, as well as recruiting. The GSA has had difficulties recruiting heterosexual men. Wallace said less than 15 percent of GSA members are heterosexual.
“The reason is that there is still a little bit of homophobia on our campus,” Wallace said. “There’s still a stigma that if you’re in the organization, you’re gay. However, our numbers of straight women have grown. Sororities have gone out on a limb to help us.”
Even though Hubbell said the organization has not been the object of harassment since the protest nor have any members reported being physically harassed, GSA leaders still struggle to change perceptions of GSA as a stereotypical “gay club.”
“This is not an organization for people to just hook up, nor just a social organization,” Wallace said. “We want to prove to people that we’re an organization that cares about issues that affect everyone, not just homosexuals.
