AS THE "Gay? Fine by Me" campaign comes to Virginia, it is instructive to remember some of the larger issues that will lead to wider acceptance and toleration of LGBT individuals in the University and the United States at large. One of these involves education, and the University will be at the forefront of disseminating such information. Queer studies programs, those that cover the collective experiences of the LGBT community, social, economic or otherwise, are offered at many colleges throughout the country, and their inclusion at the University will serve as a useful tool towards changing perceptions of alienated individuals through institutional activity and support.
Queer studies are usually, though not exclusively, understood in the context of diversity. Many argue that the University should adopt queer studies to have a cutting-edge and forward-thinking academic environment. While that viewpoint is legitimate, there is a broader issue at stake: Queer studies programs should not necessarily be thought of as diversity-driven requirements, but rather as vehicles for social understanding and academic insight and dialogue.
Infusing the University with these institutional structures would make students better educated and receptive to discussing issues relating to LGBT individuals. Ultimately, though not necessarily a goal, it might also make students more sympathetic to the social struggles and challenges those individuals frequently face.
Moral concerns that the introduction of queer studies would somehow be inappropriate are outdated, and the University should not support any ideological positions anyway. Furthermore, viewing the establishment of queer studies as a method of engineering thoughtful conversations will provide students with an opportunity to learn about new concepts and ideas they may have misunderstood before.
People usually fear what they misunderstand, and they often misunderstand things because they lack exposure. Queer studies would give students that necessary interaction without ideological indoctrination.
In an e-mail with Ryan McElveen, Student Council's former Diversity Committee Co-Chair, he explained why queer studies may be having a difficult time entering the curriculum: "Some people consider queer studies to already fall within the realm of Studies of Women and Gender when really that pseudo-department does not directly address queer studies." McElveen identified the LGBT community as an "under-represented minority" and concluded that "queer studies are needed because issues that face the queer community are left out of the mainstream curriculum much like other minorities." He also commented that we should understand their viewpoints "in order to better represent them as citizens within our legal and social system."
As mentioned by McElveen, one of the main problems for such minority groups is that they have no forum through which issues relevant to them can be discussed.
Often what passes for "serious discussion" is nothing more than casual social dialogue, but what's needed is a formal system through which their problems and concerns can be rigorously analyzed.
The only legitimate excuse for not implementing queer studies would be a lack of resources. Otherwise, this program should be a part of the University. It would not threaten students' moral or religious beliefs. No one is pressuring people to take these courses, and if demand is high enough, it would be silly not to have this new curriculum.
Social change occurs in a number of ways; this proposal takes a top-to-bottom approach, urging the University to implement queer studies programs as a means of establishing some organization for conducting debates on increasingly important topics. There are already plenty of classes or departments in the University that have focuses certain people find objectionable, so why derail queer studies because of that?
More important for proponents of the "Gay? Fine by Me" campaign is that queer studies would be, or at least could be, the engine that promotes a more thorough consideration of LGBT-related issues. Real and meaningful change will be achieved only at this institutional level, not through passing out t-shirts and flyers.
Erald Kolasi's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at ekolasi@cavalierdaily.com.
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