Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ)

New LGBTQQ Coordinator at Unity Center

The Unity Center is dedicated to promoting diversity on campus. Now even more students will be represented with the addition of a new lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender coordinator, Kristin Kayala. Kristin's position will entail planning events to promote LGBTQQ awareness, working with faculty and staff to maintain a safer campus for all students, and being an advocate on campus for all LGBTQQ students. She will also be working closely with the Unity Center, especially Aaron Bruce and Rachel Floyd a Graduate LGBTQQ coordinator to try and institute LGBTQQ training for faculty and staff, which Rhode Island College currently does not make available.

Kristin will also be available during her hours at the Unity Center for any student to come in and discuss LGBTQQ issues. She welcomes any suggestions that would help make our campus better for everyone, and wants to make sure that every student knows of the different resources available to them. Kristin will be in the Unity Center on Tuesdays from 9-3:30, and Fridays from 9-4, or she would be glad to make an appointment with anyone, her email address is kkayala_7978@ric.edu. Feel free to call the Unity Center if you need more information 401-456-8791

Campus Office: Student Union 420
Meeting: Wednesday, 1:00-2:00pm, Student Union 420
President Name: Kristin Kayala, kkayala_7978@ric.edu
Advisor Name: Aaron Bruce

A Short LGBTQQ History

1969: Angered by police harassment (including physical violence and sexual assault of LGBTQQ people) of patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a New York gay bar, LGBTQQ residents in the area and bar patrons fight back during a police raid, initiating several days of violence called the "Stonewall Riots." Many consider this event as the genesis of the modern LGBTQQ Civil Rights Movement in America.

1973: The American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its list of "illnesses," calls for decriminalization of homosexuality and the passage of civil rights protections for gays and lesbians, supposedly ending a century of efforts by psychologists to "cure" LGBTQQ people.

1974: The National Education Association adds sexual orientation to its non discrimination policies and calls for all other professional educational associations to do the same.

1975: The American Psychological Association calls upon its members to remove the stigma of mental illness from the treatment of homosexuals.

1982: Wisconsin becomes the fist state to ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Today, 17 states have similar legislation. The states (and the year the laws were enacted) are Massachusetts-1989; Connecticut and Hawaii-1991; California, New Jersey and Vermost-1992; Minnesota-1993; Rhode Island-1995; New Hampshire-1997; Nevada-1999; Maryland-2001; New York-2002; New Mexico-2003; Illinois-2005; Maine-2005; Washington-2006. Note that 33 states still allow an individual to be fired because of their orientation, and that there is no civil rights recourse for such discrimination in those states. Currently, 7 states directly protect people on the basis of their gender identity/expression: CA, IL, MN, NM, RI, ME and WA. 16 other states include some protections by court action.

1983: The American Academy of Pediatrics calls on its constituents to serve all youth struggling with their sexual identity.

1986: In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court upholds sodomy laws in Georgia in the Bowers v. Hartwick decision. As a result, government continued to have the right to arrest consenting adults have sex in the privacy of their own homes in 24 states.

1986: In Fremont, CA, Becky Smith and Annie Afleck became the first openly lesbian couple in the US to be granted legal, joint adoption of a child.

1988: The National Education Association adopts a resolution calling for every school district to provide counseling for students struggling with their sexual orientation.

1989: Denmark becomes the first nation to legalize gay unions (a step short of same sex marriage); Norway allowed same sex marriage in 1993; The Netherlands, 2001; Belgium, 2003; Canada and Spain, 2005. Massachusetts is the only US state to allow same sex marriage, though several US state and countries offer civil unions and/or domestic partnerships including Denmark, 1989; Norway, Sweden, Iceland, 1996; France, 1999; Vermont, California USA, 2000; Germany, 2001; Finland, 2002; Luxembourg, New Zealand, 2004; Connecticut, USA, 2005; Britain, 2005; New Jersey, USA, 2006; New Hampshire, USA, 2008; and Oregon, USA, 2008. The rights grated with civil unions are not portable from state to state in the way that marriage rights are and do not including more than 1,400 federal rights or responsibilities gained through civil marriage.

1990: The Hate Crimes Statistics Act becomes the first federal law to include "sexual orientation" for "counting" purposes only.

1991: The American School Health Association passes a resolution that calls for the end of discrimination against gay and lesbian youth and outlines a series of steps to assist these adolescents in school.

1993: Massachusetts becomes the first state to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against public high school students. Several states currently include sexual orientation as a protected class in public schools including MA, WI, CT, CA, MN, VT, NJ. California, Minnesota and New Jersey's laws explicitly include transgender students. These laws only cover 11.9 million students, 25% of the country's school children. Rhode Island, while not having a legislative mandate, does have a statewide regulation from the Department of Education that protects lesbian and gay students from harassment.

2000: CT passes co-parent legislation allowing both same sex and unmarried opposite sex couples to adopt children. Currently, more than 20 states (including NY, RI, MA and NJ) allow same sex co-parent adoptions, although CT, VT and NJ are the only 3 to explicitly address it by statute.

Adapted from True Colors: Sexual Minority Youth & Family Services (2006). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning youth and families resource guide. Author: Manchester, CT.