General Agenda

Introduction

The eQ Alliance, formed through the merger of the original TCU Triangle and the TCU Allies, today has an unprecedented amount of influence and capability. Through all-inclusive campus-wide events such as the annual Pride Prom, National Coming-Out Day, or the appearance of Bette DeGeneres as a guest speaker, campus awareness of the gay community and eQ Alliance itself has been raised significantly.

Foreword

The following items contain short descriptions and ideas for fulfilling the objectives. They are by no means comprehensive or exhaustive. If the word “gay” stands by itself, it is presumed to include male and female homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender.

Outline of Objectives

The general objectives of the eQ Alliance should be

1. to increase awareness of the existence of a gay-lesbian community on campus.
2. to advance representation of the eQ Alliance on campus and beyond.
3. to provide support and assistance for students in finding their sexual and social identity and create a place were gay students feel at home and can be themselves.
4. to plan and conduct social events with an inherently gay-lesbian theme.
5. to promote equality and fight discrimination of homosexuals on campus and beyond.

Objective 1: to increase awareness of the existence of a gay-lesbian community on campus

There is a considerable number of young homosexual students at TCU. One of the goals of the eQ Alliance should be to represent these students at the faculty, student, and university level. Representation can be achieved by actively getting involved in the issues of the Student Government, the Faculty Senate, and the Board of Trustees through lobbyism similar to PAC’s at the local, state, and national level.

Objective 2: to advance representation of the eQ Alliance on campus and beyond

The eQ Alliance is the legitimate representation of the gay-lesbian student community at TCU. To maintain legitimacy, the community must know of and about the existence and actions of the eQ Alliance. This can be achieved by:

• attending student orientation for incoming students in the Fall and Spring semesters and Frog Camp during Summer Semester:
  Incoming students should know about the existence of the eQ Alliance, its mission and goals. New gay students who are still in search of their sexual identity or who—due to fear of rejection—have yet to come out should know that they are not alone and that they can find a supporting environment at TCU.
• attending Howdy Week including a stand with banners, flyers, membership incentives, etc.
• establishing a current web site which outlines eQ’s mission, history, future events, members, meeting times, etc.
• posting current events in TCU’s daily newspaper The Skiff
• posting special social events such as the Pride Prom, National Coming Out Day, or the Miss Gay TCU Pageant in local newspapers (e.g. Fort Worth Star Telegram, Dallas Morning News, Texas Triangle) and web sites (e.g. gay.com, outinfortworth.com, gaydallas.com)
• creating special interest groups for gay students for purpose of discussion, social activities (e.g. movie or club nights), field trips, etc.

Objective 3: to provide support and assistance for students in finding their sexual and social identity and create a place where gay students feel at home and can be themselves

It is estimated that a significant number of homosexual TCU students hides his or her sexual orientation. A possible way of remedy is the establishment of workshops or coming-out groups where students share their experiences, can help each other, and accept homosexuality not as a choice but as an inherent human feature. These workshops could be complemented by invitation of TCU professors or guests to speak about and discuss specific topics such as

• homosexuality in history
• AIDS and other STD's
• gay rights, the ACLU, and the HRC
• gay marriage

The eQ Alliance should become a home to students who out of financial or other dependencies cannot come out to the public. We must recognize that those students live under constant fear and pressure to live up to the standards and expectations of an intolerant society. The eQ Alliance should create a "zone of comfort" for everybody through eQ meetings and activities where no one is questioned for his sexual and social identity.

Objective 4: To plan and conduct social events with an inherently gay-lesbian theme

In the past, the eQ Alliance hosted several campus-wide social events. Such events helped increase general awareness of a gay-lesbian community already. It is therefore vital to repeat those events. Especially, events such as Pride Prom, which cater to a homosexual as well as a heterosexual audience, need to become an annual TCU and eQ tradition.

Additional events, such as the first Miss Gay TCU Pageant or gay-lesbian movie nights, should be held as well. Further possible events could be

• attendance at the Gay Pride Day parade in Dallas
• appearance in Sexual Responsibility Week, Holocaust Memorial Week, FrogStock, and the Tarrant County AIDS Walk
• Day of Silence

Objective 5: to promote equality and fight discrimination of homosexuals on campus and beyond

In 1986, the Supreme Court has ruled that there is no constitutional protection for homosexuality. Ten years later, the US Congress passed a law, the Defense of Marriage Act, allowing states to ignore same-sex marriages conducted in other states.

Most European countries, in contrast, have passed legislation specifically protecting the rights of homosexuals. Some countries, such as the Netherlands, extended the right of marriage to homosexuals, or created a kind of registered partnership for same-sex couples, such as Germany or the state of Vermont.

It should be part of eQ’s objectives to openly oppose public discrimination based on sexual orientation on and off campus. eQ should therefore participate in events sponsored by political organizations such as the ACLU or the HRC. eQ should also conduct fund-raising events whose turn-out can be contributed to non-profit organizations that support homosexual rights, AIDS research, and gay-friendly communities.

eQ should also educate its members as well as non-members about the political and social injustices under which homosexuals suffer. This can be accomplished by means of e-mail discussion, panels, the Howdy Week stand, etc.

Conclusion

One of the difficulties of student organizations in general is the severe lack of resources on hand. Most undergraduate students enroll in twelve to eighteen hours of class per semester. It is therefore undoubtedly important to have a large member base to draw from. Only with the support and efforts of the many can eQ Alliance become and remain successful. Membership recruitment must be one of the top priorities of the eQ Alliance at this time and in the future.

The objectives for the eQ Alliance will change over time. Some will be dropped, others will become more important. However, eQ’s main mission should always stay the same: to support and represent the gay community at TCU.