Lavender Bridge, a catalyst to GLBT acceptance at Metropolitan State University

-- Bob Longmore

"When I came in, I saw rainbow triangles and everybody’s name tag had a rainbow sticker. It made me feel like I had one less hurdle to overcome." This was Lavender Bridge President Anne Hodson’s first impression of Metropolitan State University. Since the early nineties, the student organization, Lavender Bridge, has striven to create an accepting and encouraging environment for GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) students at Metropolitan State University.

"There has been a big change since Lavender Bridge started," says GLBT Student Services Director Anne Phibbs. "There are more out and active students and staff." There is more visibility for GLBT- identified people on campus and Phibbs believes it is part of a bigger trend.

There are more movies and television shows that deal with GLBT people or issues now. "There are more and more people coming out," Phibbs excitedly explains. "There is an absolute huge increase in visibility. There are five percent more people in paid GLBT staff positions across the country, and I think that will grow."

When talking about the current attitude towards GLBT people, Phibbs reflects, "The climate is more supportive, but there was never hostility, just not knowing; there was an invisibility."

When reflecting on the early days of Lavender Bridge, Phibbs says, "We were trying to educate Metropolitan State about the GLBT community." One big way they have accomplished this goal is through the Ally Program, which started in 1996. They have trained over 200 people in the program, which teaches people how to support and challenge the stereotypes of the GLBT community.

Phibbs explains that a GLBT ally is a person who wants, "to be effective in challenging the way GLBT people are perceived and treated" on campus. Interested students, staff, or outside community members can become an ally by attending a two-session workshop held on campus.

Lavender Bridge’s existence is now visibly apparent on campus. If you look, you will see the rainbow flags, rainbow stickers and the rainbow circle stickers that are the symbol of the Ally Training Program. Speakers from the GLBT community visit classrooms of psychology, law enforcement, social work and nursing students. Incoming students learn about the GLBT programs during orientation as well.

The school’s administration has been supportive from the beginning. At a recent National Coming Out Day luncheon, President Wilson Bradshaw spoke of how proud he was of what Metropolitan State has accomplished.

Lavender Bridge reaches out beyond campus by participating in service projects every semester. They have helped local organizations such as The Aliveness Project, which is a community resource for people living with AIDS, by cooking meals for their members in need. They recently volunteered at a Halloween dance sponsored by Rainbow Families, which is a support organization for GLBT families. In January, Lavender Bridge will be hosting a workshop at the first-ever LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) Youth Festival.

The people involved with Lavender Bridge and the GLBT program have also reached out to regional and national organizations for help with organizing and activism. Metropolitan State representatives attended the past eight Midwest BLGTA (bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, ally) College Conferences and they plan to attend this year’s conference, which is being held in Sioux Falls, SD.

In November, there is an NGLTF (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force)-sponsored National Conference for Creating Change being held in Kansas City, MO., which members of Lavender Bridge plan on attending. This interest in activism has resulted, in part, to Metropolitan State having the largest presence of any MnSCU (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) school at the annual GLBT Pride Festival held in Loring Park in Minneapolis.

Phibbs and Hodson agree there is support on campus for Lavender Bridge services. Lavender Bridge’s goals are to increase their work with faculty, staff and students. This is an important detail to Phibbs. She says, "You may not know it, but you are sending a message that when the community comes to campus, they are welcome. And that is really what it is all about."

If you are interested in learning more about Lavender Bridge, they meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month in Room 218 of the St. Paul Campus Library, 4:00 – 5:30 pm.