October 1998
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Literature review published as a precursor to an action research project sponsored by the VP Academic and Provost at the time, Dr. P. Codding. The project, informally titled as the Committee on the Status of Sexual Minorities, conducted interviews and focus groups with gay, lesbian, bisexual, two-spirited, transgender and self-identified queer and heterosexual faculty, staff and students (undergraduate and graduate) from 1999-2002. We inquired into their experiences with sexual orientation and gender identity issues. The results were reported in GLBTTQ Spoken Here. A broad array of changes were implemented following the report and project, including changes to housing advisor training, configuration of housing arrangements on campus, the deliberate planning and building of gender-neutral bathroom and recreation facility change room options, enhanced sensitivity training for the on-campus police force (they already had training but incorporated more elements), changes to the family benefits policy (prior to legalization of same-sex marriage), and changes, in some academic departments, to mentoring of graduate students. I completed my master's thesis by doing a grounded theory analysis of the results, pointing to a number of ways in which, in spite of an apparently tolerant environment, glbttq and heterosexual people worked to manage their visibility and risk. The Committee on the Status of Sexual Minorities continued to provide advice for a number of years following this project.