Michelle Hennessy – News Writer
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed in the U.S. Senate earlier in the week is a step in the right direction, according to president of SCSU’s LGBTQIA Prism club, Robbie Diaz.
“I think it’s going to open people’s minds,” said Diaz. “You can have construction workers that can be members of the LGBT community and they’re not necessarily what you would expect, so the less discrimination there is, the more welcoming our environment can be and the more tolerant the world will be.”
ENDA would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Diaz said having Obama as president has helped a lot with LGBT issues.
“That is very new for presidents. I think Obama was the first to actually endorse any sort of LGBT equality,” said Diaz.
Other students also see the act as a way towards ending discrimination in the work place.
“It’s a fantastic step forward in the right direction and it’s just one more step towards equality,” said freshman Catherine Given. “So it will really help people in the work place.”
Though the act has been passed by the Senate, it still needs to go through the House of Representatives, something computer science sophomore Ivan Meverovich is hesitant about.
“ENDA; it’s a wonderful idea. I certainly wish it could have come here sooner,” said Meverovich. “Not to put a downer on it, but it still has to go through the House of Representatives but hopefully House Speaker Boehner can be pressured to actually put it through. I’ll stay optimistic and say that he will cave and put it through.”
After transferring from the University of Connecticut, Meverovich said UConn’s LGBT facilities are much greater than what SCSU has to offer.
“UConn definitely is a bit more active in their pursuance of LGBT equality,” said Meverovich. “Their facilities are infinitely larger than anything this campus has and a lot more easily accessible for sure. But if all the plans that we have for the club, then hopefully the system will become more similar to what UConn has.”
One of the things the club has been campaigning for is the re-opening of the Sexuality and Gender Equality center, according to club President Diaz.
“Around campus, one of our main goals is to get the Sexuality And Gender Equality center back up and running,” said Diaz. “In December we’re actually holding a grand re-opening so that’s our main thing, we want to be visible again on campus.”
While the center is currently located in Schwartz Hall’s basement and ran by student volunteers after it was closed down about two years ago for lack of funding, Diaz wants to get the center back in the Student Center to make it more accessible to students with the help of SCSU’s administration.
“All of the people in the administration that I have spoken to are incredibly passionate about it, they want to get it done. I applaud the administration because they are incredibly passionate and tolerant at making sure everyone is represented,” said Diaz.
While the re-opening of the S.A.G.E center remains a top priority for the club, Diaz said their main concern is to get everyone around campus to be accepted and treated as equals.
“We’re really trying to get everyone to accept everyone,” said Diaz. “Yes we’re a different community, yes we’re technically a minority, but we’re no different than anyone else. We’re people, we’re just like you. Accept us like we accept you.”
