A panel of professors who are out members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community shared their personal experiences and acceptance at Cal State Long Beach.
Four CSULB professors spoke Wednesday to more than 30 students at the Multicultural Center about being out members of the LGBT community as part of LGBT Diversity Week.
Bianca Wilson, an assistant professor in the department of psychology, expressed her concerns about health conditions.
Wilson, who has been involved with HIV prevention for more than 10 years, said that “in the field of psychology with sexuality-related research, we tend to only approach LGBT communities in the area of HIV and health problems. Some of us are really interested in expanding doing work in the LGBT communities.”
Wilson explained how students react to her being out. “I’m always taken back by my students’ reactions when they know I’m gay. But for the most part it has been positive or neutral – and neutral is not always a positive thing.
“While I would not say that my experiences have been negative, it has been challenging in my teaching life.”
Gabriel Estrada, a lecturer in the department of American Indian studies, said, “We have a history of queer leadership in American Indian History. For the Chicano and Latino studies department, there hasn’t been that type of leadership agenda.”
Lecturer Griselda Suarez from the Chicano and Latino studies department explained how she moved to San Francisco.
“I moved there to embrace being the Chicana lesbian that I wanted to be,” Suarez said. “There is a lot going on about sexuality and gender that is unspoken in Los Angeles.”
Suarez expressed her passion for writing, and how she uses it to integrate her lineage.
“It’s important for me to create a diverse history of my neighborhood; I need to write about it.” After reading a poem that she wrote, Suarez added, “When readers read my writing, I want them to know that rather than push away my identity, I want to expose it.”
The last speaker was Henry Fradella, professor and chairman of the department of criminal justice. Fradella stated that from growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., he became very aware of cultural and religious expectations.
“When I started my career as a professor, hate crimes were a big part of my research and writing, along with becoming an activist,” said Fradella.
He has also studied the legal issues that are facing the LGBT community.
“Criminal justice students need to become more sensitively aware of these legally,” Fradella said. Fradella added that a major factor contributing to his coming out was Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student in Wyoming who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and died five days later.
Along with sharing their personal stories on diversity, there was a question-and-answer session with the students. When one student asked about the legal issue of gay marriages, Fradella responded, “I wouldn’t be surprised if 10 to 15 years from now it becomes legal.”
When asked about advice for going into a career as an open LGBT individual, Wilson responded, “Have a good resource network. If you are going for a job interview, have a good support system behind you.”
When asked about her overall experience being a lesbian, Wilson responded, “While I would not say that my experiences have been negative, it has been challenging in my teaching life.”
When asked the advice she would give to graduating LGBT students going out into the career world, she responded, “I fully support students perusing their passion. It does require having an understanding that in some places experiences may not be as well as others.”
Julio Salgado also contributed to this report.
