JMU SOGIE Looks to the Past to Support LGBTQ+ Students in the Present

SOGIE has begun a project documenting the history of the LGBTQ+ community on campus in efforts to combat policies coming up in other states, like Florida, that have surfaced in Virginia.

SOGIE–Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression–a program at James Madison University, works toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community through a variety of events, such as affinity groups, pride prom, drag shows and more. In addition to their social outreach, SOGIE provides information sessions and events to educate the university on the group.

“Generally our mission statement encompasses support, advocacy, and education to further the university mission on diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Cassidy Angelo, the assistant director of SOGIE, said. “Our spaces are open and welcome to all identities including sexual orientation and gender identity.”

SOGIE’s role has become increasingly important on campus due to the recent hostility the LGBTQ+ members have faced from Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, and others who do not support LGBTQ+ ideals.

This May, DeSantis signed six anti-LGBTQ+ bills eliminating the group's basic rights. These bills include: Don’t Say LGBTQ+ Expansion Bill, Extreme Gender Affirming Care Ban, Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill, License to Discriminate in Healthcare and the MAGA Takeover of Higher Education Bill. These new bills have “broken the record of anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed in the last seven years combined,” according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Ron DeSantis and his supporters argue children should not be exposed to inappropriate LGBTQ+ messages, and that kids should “be kids.” He wants to wipe the LGBTQ+ community from all societal factors to keep Florida a “refuge of Sanity,” according to ABC news.

Although DeSantis is in Florida, his beliefs have started to indirectly affect Virginia and JMU.

Virginia Gov., Glenn Youngkin, has introduced similar policies this past year. Like DeSantis, Youngkin ordered school districts to deny transgender students from using a nonlegal name as well as the bathroom they wish, as stated by AP News.

“LGBTQ+ individuals have always been marginalized in some way, so it isn’t a surprise to me that it's occurring. Obviously, it hurts as a member of the community because we are...people, it

is a human right to exist,” Gavin Wilkerson, the G.A outreach coordinator of SOGIE said. “This should never come up at any point in my eyes.”

Ron DeSantis' ideologies have impacted Youngkin’s beliefs, which in turn have spread to Harrisonburg. Just last week, anti-trans flyers were found across campus.

“It is hard to say a Florida governor has a direct impact on Virginia...but a lot of people get their opinions from what officials say,” Thomas Oxbrough, the student outreach coordinator of SOGIE, said. “So although he is in Florida, DeSantis’ heavy publicization influences other governors such as Youngkin.”

However, SOGIE brings hope.

Unlike how the media presents itself, historically LGBTQ+ members have always been around, it’s just the “trendy” thing to talk about now, Wilkerson said. SOGIE recognizes one way to stop LGBTQ+ resentment is to find previous examples of past LGBTQ+ students at James Madison University from the last century to discover a new point of view.

Wilkerson said SOGIE is going through JMU libraries and resources to “prove [their] existence” to the university and the rest of the world. In doing this, SOGIE will bring comfort to those who receive hate for expressing themselves by relating their struggles to similar ones in history, proving the LGBTQ+ community was never alone and is not alone now.

Additionally, going back through history will educate the public and show a different perspective than DeSantis’ or Youngkin’s. The media “oversexualizes” the LGBTQ+ image, Oxbrough said. Finding real experiences that have not yet been discovered will hopefully make people view the group in a new light.

SOGIE wants people to turn to them for a more personal, apolitical approach to the LGBTQ+ community.

09/23

Sources:

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/gov-desantis-signs-slate-of-extreme-anti-lgbtq-bills-enacting- a-record-shattering-number-of-discriminatory-measures-into-law

https://abcnews.go.com/US/desantis-signs-bills-affecting-lgbtq-community/story?id=99393976

https://apnews.com/article/virginia-transgender-students-schools-youngkin-ba073a1e8a9286456a 7509688f40115b

https://www.breezejmu.org/news/anti-lgbtq-rhetoric-found-on-flyers-placed-across-jmu-s-campu s/article_d9f95170-5d72-11ee-ab03-17dfce9c4d1e.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/desantis-signs-dont-say-gay-expansio n-gender-affirming-care-ban-rcna84698

sogie@jmu.edu