Joseph Graumann (SFS ’11), left, and Carlos Leon (COL ’10)

In this week’s issue, the Voice spoke with co-Presidents of GU Pride Joseph Graumann (SFS ’11) and Carlos Leon (COL ’10) about their organization, the recent hate crimes on campus and the challenges facing the LGBTQ community.  This is the extended transcript of our interview with them.

The Voice: How did you get involved in GU Pride?

Joseph: Well, I came out on campus during the Out for Change campaign. It was a lot of the issues at the time and the struggle that went on for recognition of the LGBTQ community really made me look inside myself, and, I mean as corny as it sounds, my so-called “brothers and sisters” are off fighting the good fight and I am not even secure enough to tell my friends.

Ever since then, I realized that there is work to be done. And my good friend Ellen, who was already involved with the Out for Change campaign, Ellen Greer, she really encouraged me to be involved in the community and I started out as historian, when there was an opening in the beginning of my sophomore year [2008] and then sophomore year, December, they had elections for co-chair and I ran and got elected.

The Voice: What is one thing you wish to change about GU Pride?

Joseph: I would like to see GU Pride become a more welcoming and open place for people who are in the process of coming out or who feel like they are unable to find a safe place with other aspects of the community that administers to LGBTQ people.

The Voice: The best thing about GU Pride?

Joseph: What I like about GU Pride is that although not everybody who is affiliated with the organization shows up to everything, we have a pretty good sense of comradery and we’ve developed a very good sense of community on campus, which is really important, given the nature of our identities, it’s really hard to do that, it’s hard to forge a cohesive and diverse, both racially [and] socio-economically, group on campus.

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Students concerned by the recent anti-gay hate crimes will have the chance to meet with University officials to discuss what can be done to improve student safety today at 8 p.m. in the ICC Auditorium.  In preparation for the meeting, a group of students held a discussion yesterday to decide what topics to bring up at the meeting.

After much debate and discussion, the students decided on a set of goals to bring up at today’s meeting, namely better communication on- and off-campus among appropriate safety organizations, a more tolerant culture, better pay and conditions for Department of Public Safety officers, changing the student conduct code to make hate crimes a Type C violation, and protecting students by offering self defense classes and a possible volunteer task force to help walk students home on late nights.

The issues of better pay for DPS officers and changing the Student Code of Conduct especially struck a cord, and many said that having the lowest paid campus officers in the city is creating a “revolving door” situation, where the officers come to Georgetown for paid training and then leave for other universities.

As for the changing of the Student Code of Conduct, there was also a consensus that hate crimes need to be treated with as much seriousness as assault, sexual assault, and theft.