Friday, September 09, 2005
So, here is an irony in my life. It is a real irony, too; not one of those fake, Alanis Morissette ironies.
As my screechy posts might indicate, this university can frustrate me. The majority of that frustration comes from institutional racism, sexism, and homophobia.
At times, however, I have found the queer community to be dumbfounding as well. Examples? First, they don’t like being referred to as a “queer” community because they are clueless about queer theory. Second, as one of only two faculty who are out in the classroom, I have been criticized by other queer folk! Apparently it makes them feel bad and draws unnecessary attention (FYI: My partner is the other out faculty member). I can deal with this stuff, though. After all, if I want to teach wearing a Wonder Woman costume and waving a rainbow flag, it is none of their fricking business.
The official queer campus (sorry, the official GLBT) organizations, however, aggravated me the most. The lack of ambition among the queer folk here left me itchy. One organization is supposed to unite all the GLBT faculty and staff together. For me, this seemed the perfect tool for getting the administration to hear us. Yet, the organization has been totally focused on social events in past years. Their idea of advancing the status of queers on campus was holding a My-Little-Pony ice skating party.
“¡Ya Basta!” I said, “I need to stop whining and become part of this organization! It will never change unless new people become involved.” So, I along with a couple of friends, ran for the executive council (unopposed).
Now the organization is actually looking to do something! One of the officers has created a committee to lobby for sexual orientation to be a protected category at the university level. Another officer is organizing a teach-in. All of this is fantastic! What a change!
This is the part of the story, however, where I come off badly. Somehow, with others jumping on these committees, I have become the defacto social committee. Yes, I became an officer in this organization because I believed these social events wasted our resources. The very thing that frustrated me about this organization is now my responsibility. See? Ironic!
Not that I mind too much. I am thrilled that the group is off and running on real activities this year. But where am I going to find 150 My-Little-Pony invitations?