by Jessica Carreras
Gabe Javier works for the University of Michigan's Spectrum Center, which serves the needs of the school's LGBTQ and allied students. An Ann Arbor resident, Javier and his team are working on several upcoming events, as well as addressing the everyday issues of LGBT life on campus.
1 How does working at U of M impact your ability to participate in activism?
My work is activism! Even though it might seem that I would be constricted as to the messages I am able to send and what I am "allowed" to say, the essence of the work that we at the Spectrum Center do is about helping students navigate a complex world full of labels and misperceptions. We challenge and support students, pushing them toward finding their most authentic selves. Even in today's world, this is a radical idea!
2 What are some of the problems LGBT students come to the Spectrum Center about?
What is great about the Spectrum Center is the wide range of work that we get to do. Being the oldest center in the nation, we might readily say, "We've seen it all," but we know that we haven't. We continue to push forward to address issues in the LGBTQ community that are new and complex, like the intersection of identity, the fluidity of identity, the role of religious institutions, the changing political climate.
But we also know that our work has some very foundational roots that continue to be absolutely essential. We will always be a resource for people coming out, we will always be asked to talk to parents about their gay child, and – unfortunately – we will continue to have a lot of work addressing hate, bias and discrimination that has roots in heterosexism.
Most recently, we have had many people both within the campus community and outside asking how they can be an active partners in addressing and ending the bullying of LGBTQ people. I think that people see the Spectrum Center as a place where they can ask honest questions, hear powerful stories and learn about an out, vibrant LGBTQ community.
3 What exactly do you do for the Spectrum Center?
All the center staff work as a team, but right now I am advising an amazing group of students who are planning the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference, being held at U of M Feb. 25-27, 2011. This is the nation's largest LGBTQ student-planned, student-focused conference and also the first time that the University of Michigan has hosted it. We expect about 1,800 students from across the Midwest and the student planing team is dedicated to make the conference absolutely fabulous (www.mblgtacc2011.org).
The other special project that we are all working on is the 40th anniversary of the Spectrum Center. We will kickoff a year-long celebration starting in January.
Day to day, I am often meeting with student groups about educational collaborations, designing publications on behalf of the center and serving as the co-chair of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, the professional organization of LGBT resource professionals. I'm often accessed by many of our partners across campus for consultation regarding LGBTQ and social justice issues. The Spectrum Center also just started a really exciting project with the Ann Arbor teen center, the Neutral Zone, that will connect queer and allied college students with queer and allied youth for mentorship opportunities.
4 What is your take on the Chris Armstrong/Andrew Shirvell situation?
I think Chris has taken on this challenge with great integrity and we are all very proud of him. The community, too, has really come out in support of Chris and sent a clear message that we as individuals and a community expect respect. That said, I think that we will all breathe a sigh of relief when this particular situation is resolved, but there is still heterosexism out there that we have to address.
5 What events or issues to tackle does the Spectrum Center have coming up?
The recent publicity around gay youth being bullied and gay youth suicide has really energized the community to be out, proud supporters for teens who are struggling with aspects of their identities. We will continue to find ways to challenge this energy in productive ways and really hope to do that during MBLGTAC and throughout our 40th anniversary celebrations.
Next month, we will celebrate Transgender Awareness Week and the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Learn more at http://spectrumcenter.umich.edu , or follow the center on Twitter.
