Emerson's gay rights activists speak out

Today, Emerson freshman Adriana Guida serves as GLBT Commissioner in student government. The openly gay Writing, Literature, and Publishing major is proud to be going to what the Princeton Review calls the most gay-friendly school in the United States. She also enjoys the contrast between Emerson and her more conservative hometown of Tewksbury, MA.

“When I was growing up and when I was in high school,” said the member of EAGLE - Emerson's Alliance for Gays, Lesbians, and Everyone, “there wasn’t any sort of support for gay rights. Not that anyone was actively homophobic, but nobody was really part of the movement.”

That's can't be said of the active movement for gay rights on this campus.

Fellow freshman Maura Lyons has also been an outspoken gay rights advocate for the last few years, joining her school’s Gay Straight Alliance and taking part in the National Day of Silence for her last few years at Wakefield High School. When assigned a rhetorical analysis in a speech class last semester, she gave a speech praising the rhetoric of gay rights activist Urvashi Vaid. A native of Wakefield, MA, she also finds more tolerance for alternative lifestyles here at Emerson.

“There’s definitely more intolerance there than around here and that’s partly due to intolerance and stereotypes,” she said when contrasting Wakefield and Emerson.

The many gay rights supporters at this school have recently scored a few victories, one being the Student Government Association’s approval of a gender-neutral housing resolution.

“It’s not a matter of whether we want it or if we should have it,” Guida said.

“It’s really more a matter of how to organize it now, the logistics,” Guida said, “and hopefully we’ll see it by 2010, 2011.”

Guida also praised Sean Penn’s victory for his performance as California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, at the Oscars on Sunday. Many observers and gay advocates interpreted the win as the Academy’s declaration of support for gay rights.

“It’s a validation,” Guida remarked.

Guida felt the Academy was saying, “Like, ‘okay, yes, this is a valid movie, you guys have a valid point, and this is a thing you can get recognized for just by its subject matter.’”

The victory of “Milk” is also a win for the opponents of Prop 8, which was passed 51-49 in November. The controversial law changed California's state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Prop 8’s opposition hopes to get the new law reversed, but as Guida said, “Now we have to work backwards because now it’s passed. We have to either get it un-passed or we have to prove that it’s an unconstitutional proposition, and that’s going to be a long court battle in itself.”

Local gay rights supporters are also speaking out off campus. They will be protesting an upcoming display of intolerance in the suburb of Reading. On March 13 Reading will stage “The Laramie Project”, a play based on Matthew Shepard, a gay man killed in a hate crime, and as they have with previous productions, the Westboro Baptist Church plans to travel to Reading and protest the production. Local students are planning a counter-protest against the church.

“You have the right to voice your opinion,” Lyons said of the controversial church. “We’re not telling you ‘you can’t’, but I feel like what they do is just stomping on people, and basically…it’s a group of people who just hate. Religion should be about loving your God, God loving you, and that’s how the relationship should go, at least that’s how I feel anyway, and if your God is telling you to hate people, why would you follow that?”

Profile: Sarah Greenbaum

Many Emerson students certainly remember the night of Nov. 4, 2008, and the sight of countless college students gathering at city landmarks to celebrate President Obama’s victory. But less people know about one of the masterminds behind that news-making event.

“Me and three other people started the run to Copley Square,” freshman Sarah Greenbaum recalls with apparent nonchalance.

Her good friend and fellow freshman Duncan Menaker also has fond memories of the night.

“We were in Copley Square together…top of the library pillars together screaming ‘Obama!’”

This is one of Greenbaum’s best stories of her time here so far, going to a school she loves, in a city she loves. And her housing situation…she lives at the Courtyard Marriott…might make her fellow Emerson freshmen jealous.

“My bed is a queen sized bed,” says Greenbaum, 19-year-old print/multimedia journalism major.

Her bathroom’s “a little more than half the size” of a double in the Little Building.

But before all this, she was another high school student who wasn’t sure about which path to take.

“The funny thing is,” she recalls, “I didn’t really think of Emerson that much at all. I wasn’t that excited about choosing which college I was going to apply to.”

But Emerson grew on her as she discovered more about the school and the city.

“The thing I liked was that it had this artsy feel about it without being a specific arts school,” says Greenbaum, whose interests include various forms of art.

“I did a lot of painting and drawing in high school…and then I picked up photography.”

She also has a musical background.

“I played the piano for about six years. I eventually quit when I was in seventh or eighth grade. I picked up guitar…played guitar throughout high school,” says Greenbaum

She also listens to a “such a wide variety of music” that includes old favorites Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and new arrivals like Bon Iver.

The Easthampton, New York native grew up with a younger sister and four older brothers, one being an artist of sorts, studying architecture. Her eldest brother started the artistic trend in the family, and has a career of which film majors might take note.

“My oldest brother is a film producer, making movies on his own. He does have his own production company.”

With high school over, Greenbaum now embraces a different life, pursuing some new interests. One of them is her current dream job.

“I really want to do travel…minor in photography,” says the aspiring photojournalist, who also enjoys classes like Culture and Power, and her Research Writing class on social change.

“I worked a little on the school paper…mostly in graphic design.”

She also enjoys her time with the new friends she’s made on campus. One of those friends, Menaker, characterizes her personality this way:

“Sweetheart…mature…tea…she works at Tealuxe,” he jokes about his tea-loving friend.

Menaker first met Greenbaum as he randomly hung out at her hotel, ending up in the then-stranger’s room. He and the resident hit it off.

“We’ve been good friends ever since,” he says.