Essay: Spectrum: Working Towards Acceptance & Empowerment

Spectrum is a University of Kansas student group that aims to empower LGBTQ+ community.

Spectrum KU is an organization that began in 1970 for those who identify within the Spectrum of genders & sexualities and seek a supportive community to celebrate themselves, advocate their rights, and inform those who stand in solidarity with them.The group fosters a community by holding meetings and events. Additionally, they bring in popular speakers who talk about GLBTQIA issues. Josh Dutton, a freshman member of the Spectrum organization, states “From an outside perspective I think it is easy to think of spectrum as simply 'gay club' however this is pretty far from the truth. Spectrum is essentially just that, a spectrum of people with various identities whether that be gay, bi, straight, trans, or any other form of sexual or gender identity.” The organization aims to create a “nurturing, supportive community,” and to diminish the misconception “that being heterosexual and cisgender is ‘normal,’” and although “it may be the most common sexual and gender identity in our society, it isn't normal or more correct than any other identity,” Dutton said. In short, Spectrum is a group of diverse individuals who aim to help one another feel accepted and empowered through exercises and activities; additionally, the group discusses real issues in attempt to find methods to spread awareness of said issues and to come up with potential solutions.

Spectrum hosts multiple meetings, workshops, and events in order to get more students involved, give students the opportunity to express themselves, and to move towards a more supportive community. Dutton explained the importance of self-acceptance and self-expression; he states, “People take for granted how important it is to feel recognized in the world for who you are, many members have been deprived of something so simple as this for the majority of their lives, so these group exercises can be very refreshing to them knowing that a whole club is listening to you, identifying with you, and recognizing you as you would like to be recognized.” He then went on to say that although we have our differences, we are all pretty much the same. One workshop titled “Common Ground” is directed towards unveiling this idea that we all have similarities that allow us to relate to one another. The event is posted on Facebook and is open to anyone who is interested in participating. “We all stood in a circle and random identifiers were read out loud. If you identified with the prompt then you would step into the circle and you could see who all identified with the same prompt, thus creating 'common ground',” Dutton said. Some of the prompts in the exercise are the obvious ones such as gay, lesbian, trans, etc., but the majority were ones that some may not normally expect such as drug abuse, family dynamics, race, economic status, mental health, introversion/extroversion, religion, and other similar circumstances. The activity is essential in creating a supportive community; it allows students to find ways that to relate to each other and sympathize with each other which enables them to effectively empower one another.

In addition, the organization is in the midst of creating a Support Fund for LGBTQ+ students at KU who need additional support in cases of financial strife or being cut off from their families. Dutton described the fundraiser as a “safety net…for students who undergo loss of support from their families who do not approve of them being gay or transgendered or etc.” He explains how this lack of support, both emotionally and financially, can jeopardize students’ access to higher education and “can really screw up their entire lives.” This fund would lay the foundation for ensuring that LGBTQ students at KU have opportunities to continue their education when these sorts of unfortunate situations hinder their collegiate endeavors. “No student should have to choose between their authenticity and their education,” Dutton said. Support from one’s family does not only effect an individual financially, but it can effect one’s physical and emotional health. In a recent study, the relationship between family rejection in adolescence and the health of LGB young adults was examined. “The study showed clear associations between parental rejecting behaviors during adolescence and the use of illegal drugs, depression, attempted suicide, and sexual health risk by LGB young adults.” (Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2010) Family acceptance is a crucial component for LGBT adolescents to have positive mental and physical health. The spectrum organization also works in helping those who do not receive acceptance from their families by providing a supportive, accepting community who acts as a second family.

A large focus of the group is to emphasize the importance of being able to express themselves and to be recognized by others how you want to be recognized. When asked why this is so important, Dutton explained how our society and media are overwhelmingly ‘heteronormative’; he states “Kids fairy tales feature straight couples, if you see a stranger on the street you assume that they're straight, we're told that boys have penises and girls have vaginas and that if you have those parts you like these certain things and act this certain way.” Dutton went on to say how this can be very limiting and, “creates a real blow towards the self esteem of young children who find that they don't identify with what society dubs 'normal'.” This “blow towards self-esteem” can be directly related to the fact that it is far more likely for LGBTQ youth to have thoughts of suicide or to commit suicide (as mentioned earlier); “It’s extremely difficult to be happy when you feel like you can’t be or aren’t being authentic to yourself,” Dutton said. In fact, “LGBTQ youth is four times more likely to to attempt suicide than their straight peers.” (thetrevorproject, 2016) In addition, nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives, and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt. (Kann 2011) “Imagine how it must feel to have it conveyed to you day in and day out that how you identify as a person is wrong…you feel like a freak, like there is something wrong with you”, Dutton said. He explains how relieving it can be to go from feeling rejected on a daily basis, then to suddenly step into a diverse group where anything goes, everything is accepted, and there is no normal. “It's one of the most liberating feelings a human can experience,” Dutton said.

The group discusses many issues and current events regarding the GLBTQIA community, one of which being the suicide rates among GLBTQIA as mentioned before. When asked what other topics the group discusses, one of the responses Dutton gave was ‘micro-aggressions’. Columbia University Professor Derald Sue defines a micro-aggression as “The everyday encounters of subtle discrimination that people of various marginalized groups experience throughout their lives.” (Nigatu 2014) Dutton explained how one of the methods used to spread awareness of and attempt to diminish gender and/or sexual discrimination is to address micro-aggressions when one is encountered. “Many times people don’t realize that they are being discriminatory…often times it’s the deeply embedded prejudicial ideas coming out,” Dutton said. A few examples of micro-aggressions include “So…who is the man in the relationship?”, “This is my gay best friend.”, and “No homo.” (Nigatu 2014) Dutton revealed how it is important to confront these micro-aggressions when they happen because becoming aware of one’s own prejudices is one step closer to eliminating gender and sexual discrimination.

With prejudices against the GLBTQIA community comes prejudices against the Spectrum organization; there are many misconceptions about the organization. One of which being that in order to be a member of the club, you cannot be heterosexual. “I think a lot of people feel that they can't attend because they're straight. We actually have a good number of straight members in our ranks. We don't view them any differently than any of the other members, they're simply apart of the same Spectrum we're all on, everybody is welcome. Many of our issues we discuss aren't totally gay/trans issues, a lot of the time they're simply human issues, applicable to everyone.,” Dutton explained. This idea that straight members are “simply a part of the spectrum” is one illustration of the group’s widely-held value of open-mindedness. “The way someone lives their life is a very personal thing. Sure, it may not be your cup of tea, but you have to realize that it is somebody else's and it deserves to be respected just the same”, Dutton said. As well as open-mindedness, another value that the group puts an emphasis on is pronouns. Many members may not identify with the typical he or she; so, when the members introduce themselves, they also list their pronouns so that everyone can feel recognized by the group. “You definitely can't just tell by looking at someone what their preferred pronouns are, so we make it a big point to ask that way we can foster a supportive environment,” Dutton said.

Even though the group does discuss heavy topics such as the ones mentioned previously, the atmosphere isn’t always so serious. “It's always a fun time, we're a pretty exciting bunch. The atmosphere I would describe as relaxed and refreshing. You feel incredibly at ease with everyone there, nobody is going to judge you for anything,” Dutton said. The group also has many traditions such as watching RuPaul’s Drag Race together, having group brunches at the restaurant Ladybirds, and occasionally performing in drag shows together; “other than that, we keep it pretty casual,” Dutton said.

Although Spectrum may seem simply like a ‘gay club’ from the outside, it is actually an extremely multiplex, fun, and accepting group that is open to students of all genders and sexual orientations. Individuals in the GLBTQIA community have long-faced many prejudices and injustices and the group works to combat these things while providing a supportive community for GLBTQIA students in need. “it is an awesome group of people that discusses real issues and is just a really great way to meet people,” Dutton said. There are many misconceptions about the group that repel many students from joining, but really, it is just a group of diverse individuals who are striving to empower one another; the organization is accepting of everyone and open to all topics; it can be beneficial to anyone who joins. It is clear that this organization has a worthy cause and is making a difference in lives of many.