Students who are not gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender can still contribute to Syracuse University’s LGBT campus programming and advocacy.

Some, like sophomore Andres Sarmiento, made their voices heard through silence on the National Day Of Silence, April 21. This event drew attention to LGBT issues and supported the LGBT community on campus and nationwide, Sarmiento said.

But beyond that, the opportunities for LGBT allies appear limited.

‘How can I get more involved?’ asked Sarmiento, an international relations major. ‘Where can I sign up?’

To integrate Sarmiento and others into LGBT programming, the LGBT Resource Center staff and Pride Union members will spend the summer planning ally and ally-inclusive events for the fall semester, after nearly a year of casual discussion. But while many non-LGBT students have expressed interest in being an ally, others have not known why, how or what they should do to become one.

The programming will include an ally training session that would last one or two days, and would be open to students, faculty, administrators, and members of the Syracuse community, said Adrea Jaehnig, director of the LGBT Resource Center.

‘The idea is to give basic information about LGBT concerns and give people specifics about the history of the community and why we often don’t speak up,’ Jaehnig said.

Allies support LGBT rights, speak out against hateful speech or behavior toward the LGBT community, and do not assume that everyone is heterosexual, Jaehnig said. Instead of asking if a person has a boyfriend or girlfriend, one could ask if that person is dating someone.

‘At its most basic form, it’s being a friend,’ said James Kaechele, treasurer of Pride Union and sophomore environmental forestry and biology major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. ‘Speaking for someone else who feels so threatened that he cannot speak is one of the most noble things you can do.’

The resource center and Pride Union may also sponsor some events and activities for allies as part of Coming Out Week and publicize later events as open to allies, said Jen Spinner, advocacy coordinator of Pride Union and sophomore policy studies and women’s studies major.

More non-LGBT students have expressed interest in becoming allies, which Kaechele attributes to changes within the campus community and national culture.

‘The country as a whole has begun to have these discussions,’ Kaechele said, citing last July’s Texas court dismissal of anti-sodomy laws and the same-sex marriage controversy. ‘There’s a great movement to understand and educate ourselves as citizens, and that’s reflected in the university as well.’

Many students who want to become allies often have siblings or friends who are LGBT. Others say they simply sympathize.

‘I know what it feels like to be discriminated against for dating someone outside the norm,’ said Paul Nardin, a junior environmental forestry and biology major at ESF, who is dating a woman of Jamaican and Haitian heritage. ‘People need to support one another.’

Certain programs may help to reach students that may not know anyone within the community or have not experienced discrimination, Kaechele said.

‘They’re not bad people, but they’re just like, why should I go to that?’ Kaechele said.

One such program, Breaking the Silence, launched by freshman broadcast journalism major Brian Stout in March, visits various residence halls and encourages residents to discuss certain topics, like stereotypes about people who identify as gay, the definition of transgender, questions relating to sexuality and hate crimes and discrimination.

Yet some students worry that others will assume they are gay if they become an ally.

‘I think that definitely might happen,’ Nardin said. ‘But I think it’d be funny if some guy hit on me.’

If these students realize that straight people can, and do, work in support of the LGBT community, they may lose their apprehension and get more involved.

‘If we got a football player or some sports guy as the person for the ads, then that would be the biggest help,’ Spinner said.

All students are welcome to attend Pride Union and Coming Out Week programming, but many straight students may not realize this, Kaechele said. Those students that have had family members or friends come out can share their experiences as well.

‘It’s important that everybody feel validated,’ Kaechele said. ‘It’s sometimes nice to stop and have people say, ‘Yep, I’ve been there.”

Allies may also be able to draw a connection to their own lives after hearing the stories and experiences from members of the LGBT community, Jaehnig said.

‘You start seeing how these issues are related: ‘How does gender affect me?’ or ‘How does sexuality affect me?” Jaehnig said. ‘People tend to see it as something really separate from them, but then they might realize, ‘Oh wow, I would go to a Pride Union event. I see the connection.”

Encouraging straight people to become more involved with Pride Union or resource center events could mean that those people’s voices and concerns may dominate over those of LGBT students, some say, and the center will need to consider that when planning programming, Jaehnig said.

‘You always have to be sure that, as allies, we’re not talking for a member of an oppressed group,’ Jaehnig said. ‘And we need to help allies understand the privilege that comes with the benefits of the society and the way its been structured.’

Any discussion or interaction within the LGBT center remains private to the outside community, and the staff emphasizes that everyone inside be tolerant and respectful, making it a safe space.

‘It’s important to maintain a balance between safe space and that shared community experience,’ Kaechele said.

Many other universities have ally organizations or branches, including the University of North Carolina, Boston University and Indiana University.

Membership of Allies, an organization for allies at Indiana University-Bloomington, ebbs and flows throughout the year, as different events occur, said Kendra Clarke, conference coordinator of the LGBT Center at Indiana University.

‘You can’t just live in a gay little bubble,’ Clarke said.

IU has attracted many allies through ‘Straight but not Narrow’ pins, which students attach to backpacks or jackets, Clarke said.

‘They tend to go a whole lot faster than the ‘Out and Proud’ pins,’ Clarke said.

Other schools have made allies an even more formal part of the community. Pennsylvania State, Duke and Virginia Tech have each added an ‘A’ for ally to its department or office title, forming ‘LGBTA’ offices.

Staff at the SU center have not talked about changing its name, but have added an ‘A’ to the programming descriptions for some events next fall, including a LGBT annual picnic, Jaehnig said.

‘I hope people notice that we are more intentionally including allies,’ Jaehnig added.

Such public alliance will help garner understanding for the LGBT community. Without ally aid to the LGBT community, the fight for same-sex marriage and recognition cannot be won, Spinner said.

‘If people saw that straight people saw that the LGBT community is not the only one that cares about these issues, then I think more people would get behind it, and see it as less of a threat,’ Spinner said.

Without administrators, lawmakers and employers as allies, changes cannot be made, Kaechele said.

‘Everyone needs help from outside their own little circle,’ Kaechele said. ‘There are so many people outside the community, if we can pull them in by having them as allies, it makes it a so much stronger and, ultimately, enriching experience.’

Published on May 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm