The Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Ally Resource Center held its annual fall social last Thursday.
"The social is a place for people to meet each other and hopefully find a home," said Dr. Mindy Michels, GLBTA director.
The event, which featured free drinks and pizza, was held in Mary Graydon Center rooms 203 and 205. Both rooms were crowded and Queers and Allies president Allison Waithe said that attendance was greater than last year.
The GLBTA center was started in 1994 but was not fully staffed until 1999. The center is an office, not a student run organization.
AU has a responsibility to look at GLBTA student needs, Michels said.
The GLBTA department explains to students the difficulties they may face when looking for a job, just like the international department helps explains to students what reactions might be like for them in different countries.
Training sessions on GLBTA issues for both students and teachers are also provided by the resource center. The center also runs the Spectrum Program, which helps match potential incoming students with GLBTA advisors. Two years ago, the GLBTA was successful in adding the terms "gender identity and expression" in the University's non-discrimination policy.
According to Michels, a student who recently went to have an HIV test was immediately asked, "You're heterosexual, right?"
"If we lived in a perfect world, we wouldn't need this office," Michels said. "But we're not there yet"
