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This article was written by Robin Matthies and Aiden Caes the two professional staff members at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s LGBT Campus Center: On why they are invested in combating LGBTQ bullying.
This fall the LGBT Campus Center (LGBT CC) launched Stop the Silence, a campaign to address LGBTQ bullying on college campuses. The campaign originated from a series of conversations about our personal investment on this issue, and desire to address the incidents that surround us on a daily basis. While we come to this issue with different backgrounds, we have both been impacted by bullying and are invested in this issue on a very personal level.
Working at the LGBT Campus Center carries the privilege of functioning in a supportive environment where we are out advocates for LGBT issues. While the LGBT CC is in many ways a sheltered environment, our roles in it our deeply intertwined in combating homophobia and transphobia in the broader community. And if we ever needed a reminder that we cannot serve as a passive resource, bullying is it.
Madison is viewed as an LGBT-friendly city, and University of Wisconsin - Madison as an LGBT friendly school; our challenge is to live up to that reputation. We are well aware of incidents that occur in dorms, classrooms, and bars near campus. Even as staff members, we were recently gay-bashed by a handful of drunken students; this is not a unique occurrence.
In this climate, simply being a resource center is not enough. Rather, we must address the environment that is permissive of these incidents, as they are a reflection of pervasive homophobia, heterosexism, and transphobia in our society. We need to address uninclusive policies and procedures, the ways in which incidents that occur in dorms are reported and dealt with, drinking culture that promotes harassment... and the reality that even in college, students are being bullied.
Aiden Caes, Assistant Director, LGBT Campus Center UW-Madison
As a high school student, I was bullied...harassed in the halls and in the restroom, spat on...no incident in itself was notable, but the accumulation of them [had a toll]. It is difficult to witness the recent suicides by LGBTQ youth because they are a symptom of much broader issues. They remind me that students are still facing hostile school environments. That students are still going through what I went through. As much as I would like to forget what I went through in high school, to do so simply continues the silence. Administrators must know what students face in their schools; students must know that they are not alone and should not be shamed into silence; we must speak out about what has happened to us so that it is not allowed to perpetuate, and so the wounds inflicted by bullying, and the lasting pain can begin to heal.
Robin Matthies, Director, LGBT Campus Center UW-Madison
I suppose to varying degrees I have experienced them all. In high school I was rather invisible. In fact, if you asked 95% of my graduating class if they knew who I was they would have a blank look on their face. I stayed invisible on purpose, I suppose. Less chance of being
bothered ...noticed as different.
Since high school I have developed a heaviness in my heart for those who have been impacted by bullying. When I came out, four years after graduating, I realized in a moment, exactly why I had felt different for so long. For the last 15 years I have spoken up about bullying. I have seen, and witnessed people in my community become verbal and physical punching bags by individuals incapable of seeing them as human beings. I have had friends who have been tormented to an extent that I don't comprehend. Who have tempted suicide as the only option to save them from pain. When people ask me, why is this a cause you are so passionate about, I wonder why it isn’t obvious?
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