Successful Events: Penn Vet LGBTQ&Allies Update

 Hello Broad Spectrum folks! Hope everyone is settling back into classes and the excitement of a new semester. Here at Penn we just finished week 1 of our semester after a successful Orientation for our incoming class V'15.

As a fundraiser for the club we bought RAINBOW colored pencils and sold them to 2nd year students to give as gifts for their 1st year mentees (all of 1st year students use colored pencils for anatomy lab 'chalk talks' among other things). We had also made tons of RAINBOW "PENN VET" and "PENN VET Ally" buttons to give away to students, faculty and staff and have encouraged them to wear them on their backpacks, messenger bags, totes, and briefcases or to proudly display them on their office door. These have been a huge hit and we already have a few first year students that are eager to get involved with the club.  

We also co-hosted a Welcome Back Potluck Dinner with the Class of 2014 and were able to provide free beer to the event. It was a huge success, with a big turnout and a ton of deliciously prepared goodies from buffalo chicken dip with tortilla chips, tofu salads, pasta salads, yummy cheeses with baguette, finger licking pulled pork, tons of sweets including homemade pies and cookies... whew! DELICIOUS!

Welcome Back to School!

We hope those of you returning to school had a decent summer and wish all the best for the pre-veterinary students currently applying into schools.  We, in turn, wanted to let you know what we've been up to these past few months! 

In July, Broad Spectrum VSA attended its first American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, where we held our first national meeting.  Our Broad Spectrum representatives discussed our mission with many prominent members of the veterinary community, including Dr. Wayne Hollingshead, LGVMA President; Dr. Ken Gorzyca, Executive Secretary of LGVMA; Dr. Mike Chaddock, Deputy Director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC); and Lisa Greenhill, Associate Executive Director for Institutional Research and Diversity of the AAVMC.

Some highlights of the meeting included the creation of Starter Kits for LGVMA or LGBT-affiliated student groups, so that any group of students that wants to start a chapter will not be left to reinvent the wheel.  The starter kit would include

• A constitution and bylaws
• A contact person for help
• An LGVMA contact
• Event and fundraising ideas

We will be working on this throughout the year, so we'll let you know of any updates as they happen.  In the meantime, do direct any questions about student groups to broadspectrumoutreach@gmail.com

We also discussed our website which is currently in beta form.  Here is a sneak peak!

We'll be going live with it VERY SOON and will keep you posted.  The website will include

• Resources with links to school clubs-so if your club is not represented in our spreadsheet (see the previous blog post) let us know!
• Guide for New LGBT Groups
• Calendar of Upcoming Events
• Potentially a Members-Only section!

Finally, our representatives discussed next year's Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) Symposium at Purdue in March of 2012.  We will be holding a meeting for students who are interested in joining, as well as helping/attending numerous LGVMA functions, panels, and workshops.  We'll be distributing buttons, so keep your eyes out!

In the mean time, do let us know if your school is hosting any events, and we will share the information through our blog!

Direct any questions, comments, and concerns to broadspectrumoutreach@gmail.com
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Support Organizations for LGBTQQIA Veterinary Students

As the summer months are winding down and many school terms are about to begin, Broad Spectrum Veterinary Student Association is covering the different support systems available to LGBTQQIA veterinary students on their campuses.  The resources we're gathering include student-run groups as well as school-supported LGBT Resource Centers.  This information should provide yet another gauge of acceptance and tolerance on campuses.

However, it is important to note some caveats and nuances that come with this topic.  First, student clubs are as diverse and dynamic as the students of which they're composed.  Especially in the context of graduate schools, leadership and interest can wax and wane, resulting in clubs that are very active some years but inactive the next.  In addition, LGBTQQIA clubs can have very different objectives: some may be geared towards the social aspects (e.g. hosting parties and mixers); others may address education (e.g. bringing in speakers, highlighting inclusive language, hosting events that raise awareness); while others may focus on the political (e.g. encouraging student activism, protests, petitions).  Furthermore, some of the clubs and groups listed here comprise only veterinary students (such as student chapters of the LGVMA) while other clubs comprise students of different health professions (such as Lambda and Friends of Western University), while other clubs represent students in both graduate and undergraduate programs.

In the context of graduate schools, the concept of student groups requires further consideration.  In my (SF) experience, I've found many graduate students are less inclined to participate in LGBT groups (and groups in general) due to their busy schedules and the idea that they are in graduate school for professional training.  Similarly, others have expressed they've received a lot of support or have participated extensively in student groups in their undergraduate education and do not feel the need to participate in student organizations in graduate school.  For those who DO choose to participate, busier schedules often hinder a group's ability to maintain consistency to the level of support/activities the group is able to provide.  Finally, some schools have the benefit of having both an undergraduate and graduate student population, which can translate into a greater ability to provide infrastructural/institutional support, such as through LGBT Resource Centers.  On the flip side, schools with both populations may not have clubs that are able to address both groups, and some LGBT groups may be more targeted towards undergraduates.

With ALL this in mind, check out 
the list
for current support organizations at your school.
Is your organization/club not represented?  Are the contact links outdated?  Are there glaring errors?  Shoot us an email at: broadspectrumoutreach@gmail.com

Here are some screen shots for quick reference (we recommend the actual list for access to the links):
USA:  Schools in Alabama and California

 California continued-Florida

 Georgia-Illinois

Illinois cont-Iowa

 Iowa cont-Massachusetts

 Michigan-Minnesota

 Mississippi-New York

 New York cont-Ohio

 Ohio cont-Pennsylvania

 Pennsylvania cont-Tennessee

 Tennessee cont-Washington

 Washington cont-Wisconsin

 Wisconsin cont-CANADA

 Canada-cont to CARIBBEAN

**** Edited 10/2 to include Ontario Veterinary College's Diversity Club****
**** Edited 8/2 to correct the information for the following
1.  Changed Iowa State University and University of Pennsylvania contact information
2.  Included VOICE (Veterinary Students as One in Culture and Ethnicity) contacts from their officer website; however, it's unclear when the roster was last updated.
3.  Included Broad Spectrum Veterinary Student Chairs at their representative universities.
Broad Spectrum Chairs
Secretary-Audrey Weaver, Tuskegee University
Outreach Co-Chairs-William Gilles, University of Wisconsin; Sonia Fang, Western University of Health Sciences
Webmaster: William Gilles
Blogger: Sonia Fang
LGVMA Student Representative: Allison Gutwillig, University of Wisconsin
Intern/Resident Chair: Nikki Wright, University of Pennsylvania
Alumni Relations: Ruthie Parsley, UC Davis
Legislation Chair: Jillian Zientek, The Ohio State University*****

How LGBT-friendly is your veterinary school?

If you're a prospective veterinary student or current student in veterinary school, you may wonder if your school or dream school is LGBT-friendly.  There are many things one may look for in an attempt to address this question, many of which depend on the individual.  Are there campus resources or organizations (a post soon to come!)?  Is there a cohesive LGBT community?  What is the general attitude or atmosphere?  Are students and faculty members comfortable with or informed on LGBT issues, or is the attitude one of "don't ask, don't tell"?

One barometer of acceptance comes from examining a school's 
Non-Discrimination Policy.

This policy basically states what forms of discrimination a school will not accept.  In the United States, schools are, by law, required to prevent discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, disability, and veteran status.  

For the LGBT community, discrimination can come in many forms.  Three pertinent forms are discrimination based on sexual orientation (an individual's preference in terms of sexual or romantic relationship with others), discrimination based on gender identity, and discrimination based on gender expression.  For the unfamiliar, the Ontario Human Rights Commission defines gender identity as:

An individual’s intrinsic sense of self, particularly the sense of being male or female.  Gender identity may or not conform to a person’s birth assigned sex. Personal characteristics that are associated with gender identity include selfimage, physical and biological appearance, expression, behaviour, and conduct, as they relate to gender.  A person's gender identity is different from their sexual orientation.  

Gender expression relates to how an individual expresses their gender identity, e.g. in how they dress or behave.  

The Lesbian and Gay Veterinary Medical Association (LGVMA), has recently discussed more inclusive non-discrimination policies for veterinary schools when they presented at the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC).  They made strong arguments to include "gender identity" as one of the protected groups under veterinary school policy.  We highly encourage you to check out their report here.  

In the following infographic, we have

• Highlighted in green: schools that prohibit discrimination based on all three forms 
• Highlighted in red: those schools that do not explicitly prohibit discrimination of all three forms.  
• Listed Employment Protection based on State (US), Territory (Canada), or Federal (Caribbean) level--this is important especially down the line, since it tells you whether you can be fired from your job just for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or gender-noncomforming.  
• Green indicates: employment protection for both sexual orientation and gender identity in both private and public employment.  
• Red: States/Territories/Islands that offer zero protection--for several Caribbean islands, homosexuality is even criminalized.  

So without further ado, click on the image below to view the current status of the veterinary schools in North America and the Caribbean.  

* indicates that your employment protection is only applicable if you're employed by the state

^The Canadian Human Rights Law currently prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation but there is legislation pending that would include gender identity and expression.  For more information on this, click here.

The Green!
Currently, Colorado State University, Purdue University, Tufts University, The University of Minnesota, Cornell University, The Ohio State University, Washington State University, and the University of Prince Edward Island have policies which explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.  California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington all prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for both private and public employees.  

For full access to links and the actual wording of school policies please click here.

For more information on what protections you have in terms of employment, educate yourself on efforts towards passing the Employee Non-Discrimination Act and where your state currently stands.

Do you see any outdated or incorrect information?  Email us at broadspectrumoutreach[at]gmail[dot]com

Welcome to the Broad Spectrum Blog!

The 2011 SAVMA symposium provided a great number of opportunities for LGBTQ&A students to connect with each other, through panels, the LGVMA sponsored leadership breakfast, and social events. Students from many different schools - those with and without LGBT groups of their own - connected and shared stories. Two of the common themes among conversations were the isolation that some students felt when their schools did not have an LGBT presence and the fear many of us felt when applying to veterinary school - would we have to stay in the closet for the rest of our careers? While the LGVMA has done wonders to address fears of professional life as a member of the LGBT community, it became clear that something different was needed as well. A group that would be able to unify LGBT students across North America, provide community and connection to those unable to find it at their schools, and to help aid future applicants to veterinary school in accessing concrete information about life in veterinary school as a member of the LGBT community.

Out of these conversations came an organization with three main goals:

 1. To provide a source of community, information, and dialogue exchange between LGBTQ&A veterinary and pre-veterinary students, interns, and residents

 2. To aid student leaders at veterinary schools who wish to start LGBT groups at campuses that do not have them, as well as provide a resource and idea exchange for existing student organizations

 3. To facilitate the transition between life during veterinary school and professional life for LGBTQ&A students by working closely with the LGVMA

All of this can be distilled into one thought: an inclusive community where gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, questioning, and allied students can find idea exchanges and support throughout their entire educational career. Because inclusivity is a main goal of this organization, we eventually settled on the name Broad Spectrum to reflect the fact that anyone who falls anywhere on the spectra of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity has a place in the organization.

The energy at symposium was contagious and it has not dissipated. We will be having our first official face-to-face meeting at the AVMA convention this summer, but behind the scenes the board has been working hard. Our current short-term projects are getting a website and Internet presence established to facilitate communication and promote visibility, and to establish a contact at each of the veterinary schools in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Longer term goals include an online resource library, developing educational material, and a community forum to help aid in getting students the support and answers they need.

We look forward to being a part of the veterinary community, and hope to see you at the AVMA convention!

Sonia Fang (Western University of Health Sciences, CVM 2013)  and William Gilles (University of Wisconsin, SVM 2013)

Broad Spectrum Outreach Coordinators