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Daily Bruin is UCLA's campus newpaper

TenPercent
Monday, May 19, 2003
The year was 1979. The movement then known as "gay liberation" was ten years old, dating to the June 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. At UCLA, student Clay Doyle was about to launch a revolution of his own: TenPercent, the first student publication by and for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community.
Doyle faced two challenges. Politically, he had to convince UCLA Student Media that the LGBT community on campus could support its own tabloid. Doyle proposed the name TenPercent after the landmark research study Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Alfred Kinsey, 1948), which found that 10% of males were predominantly homosexual. The name was also a reminder to Student Media that there were more LGBT students than they imagined.
Doyle also faced a practical challenge: he had to produce the first issue of TenPercent. With only a handful of students to help, he needed not only writing and editing ability, but mastery of all the other skills needed to produce a tabloid in the years before desktop publishing: design, typesetting, layout, paste-up.
Luckily Doyle, who later became a professional graphic designer, had the skills as well as the vision to make TenPercent a reality. The first issue of TenPercent, printed in Spring 1979, was remarkably sophisticated for a new publication. And it made history as the first LGBT college publication in the country.
UCLA Student Media Director Arvli Ward says, "When TenPercent first came out, it was controversial because it was a gay and lesbian magazine that really challenged a lot of ideas and conceptions. I think that it really forced student media to expand its whole idea." He notes that many of the student publications at the time were "directed in the movement of the 60s¡Vall of them came out of the social movements, student based movements, and student partisan movements."
Says Ward, "TenPercent differed from its fellow student interest publications in that it was outside of that mold...I think it was pretty challenging for the students that worked [at TenPercent] and for the readers."
TenPercent almost failed to reach its 20th birthday, with a real struggle during the year of 1997-1998. According to Dr. Ronni L. Sanlo, director of UCLA's LGBT Resource Center, TenPercent was "having trouble getting people to write for it. There were very few women who were writing for it or willing to write for it; they were having trouble selling ad space, there wasn't anyone who really would commit to doing it, and it really was in trouble."
Sanlo emphasizes Arvli Ward's role in making sure that the publication continued. TenPercent survived into the 21st century, returning to UCLA and the West Hollywood community in greater force each year.
Despite its relatively small print run, TenPercent reaches thousands of readers across the country. Each quarter the magazine strives to grow, distributing to more locations and pushing for more copies each quarter. The magazine recently joined a network of alternative press publications across the country to increase its circulation.
Sanlo recalls when she worked as the director of the LGBT center at the University of Michigan. "I don't know if we were sent copies of TenPercent periodically, [but]...I was aware that it existed."
"It makes an impact in that it exists. Most institutions don't have something like that. If I'm somebody reading it, the primary impact it¡¦s going to have on me is that I'm going to think that there's some pretty interesting things taking place at UCLA in the LGBT community."
So at 24, TenPercent has a strong sense of tradition, maintaining focus on student-related features and interviews. Conversely, the beauty of TenPercent is that it is constantly evolving.
Sanlo concludes, "it's different now than it was before, it's different now than it will be next year or the year after. And that's the joy of having students be completely in charge of TenPercent because it does reflect what students are thinking and feeling, and I think that's quite wonderful."
Color photo shows Karen Lai and Josh Sassoon of TenPercent. Black and white photo shows TenPercent staff circa 1996. Story by Caroline Ouyang. Graphics by Daphne Helfand.
LGBT Law Reading Room to Open Today
By Charlotte Hsu (Daily Bruin Contributor)
Friday, February 7, 2003
The first-ever comprehensive collection of media related to sexual orientation law will be housed at the School of Law in the Williams Project Reading Room that opens today.
The Charles R. Williams Project, a think tank on sexual orientation law, was created in fall 2001 to support scholarship and inform various audiences, including judges, lawyers and policymakers, about an area of law in which few people have expertise.
"Our role is developing the ideas and theories that will lead to the advancement of lesbian and gay rights ... producing reliable data and disseminating that information to the public and policymakers," said Bradley Sears, director of the project.
Sears said it is especially important to educate judges in the field, as most judges residing today received their education before the emergence of sexual orientation law as an important area of study and before college courses were offered on the subject.
Sexual orientation law is a vital field because it is a channel through which the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals can be advanced, said William Rubenstein, faculty director of the project.
"Traditionally, the legal system has worked to oppress gay people, and sexual orientation law focuses on all the myriad efforts to change the legal system's relationship to gay people's lives," Rubenstein said. "People are looking at the law as a mechanism for social change."
Sexual orientation law has the potential to have a lasting impact on not only the LGBT community but on the lives of all people, said Pamela Karlan, a professor at Stanford Law School who will be attending the opening of the reading room today.
"It's also important in the more general development in constitutional and anti-discrimination law," Karlan said.
Some areas of law that could be affected are equality and rights to privacy.
Rubenstein argued before the New York Court of Appeals in 1989 in a case where, for the first time, a state supreme court recognized a gay couple as the legal equivalent of a family. He said though civil rights of the LGBT community have progressed considerably since then, there is more work to be done.
"In some forty states it's still perfectly legal for an employer to fire someone for their orientation," Rubenstein said. "In California we have such protection and it's taken for granted."
The opening of the Williams Project Reading Room will be preceded by an update, which will be held annually, that will include a discussion on Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, a case contesting Texas' sodomy law that is to be decided by the Supreme Court this year.
If the Supreme Court rules against Texas, it could issue a narrow opinion that would strike down the Texas law and laws in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma that prohibit sodomy among only gay people, said Karlan, who will be attending the update as a guest speaker on the case.
Another possibility, Rubenstein said, is for the court to issue a ruling that could have a tremendous impact on the civil rights of people belonging to the LGBT community.
"They could rule in a broad fashion, saying strong things about discrimination against gay people, setting high standards," Rubenstein said. "It'll be a very important social victory."
A ruling against Texas in Lawrence and Garner v. Texas would be just one step in a two-decade journey that continues to move toward securing civil rights for the LGBT community, Sears said.
"The right to marry still doesn't exist in any state," Sears said. "Most states have a law specifically saying only people of opposite sexes can get married. Sexual orientation law is very important and we still have a lot of challenges."

Coming Out Week Chalkings for Visibility, not Whining: Temporary expressions not divisive, but celebrate experiences of being LGBT
By Christopher Bailey (a fifth-year political science student)
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
The chalk used by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students to promote National Coming Out Week was more than just a coming out day tactic. LGBT students, staff, and faculty in the closet need to know that they have friends on this campus who are dealing with the same things they are ?primarily, not being accepted by the straight majority. LGBT students have a right to express ourselves as long as it is not "yelling fire in a crowed theatre" (to quote the Supreme Court). "Come out, come out wherever you are" hardly constitutes yelling fire, moreover it is not an imposition of anyone's views. Passersby could have simply averted their eyes much like we have to do when we see heterosexuals slobbering all over each other in public.
We have to ignore aspects of advertising, the media and many other arenas of daily life. Are we whining? Please don't be silly enough to think a press for equal rights is whining. Chalk is temporary and can be washed away with rain or water hoses. Calling the political statement graffiti is moronic. That would be correct if the writings were done in spray paint or permanent marker, but they were not.
Sean Gregson wrote in his submission, "Coming Out Day tagging unproductive, disunifying," that "We should not celebrate our differences so acutely that we forget our similarities" (Viewpoint, Oct. 14.). But there is nothing wrong with celebrating our differences so long as it is not divisive. I enjoy learning about Chicana/o activism and the accomplishments they have made as a people, and also hearing their points of view. There are some aspects of their ideology I may share, and even though I am not a Chicano, there is nothing wrong with wanting to learn about their struggles and ideology. In fact, I would argue that differences can and should be embraced, and cherished without being divisive. Merely writing "come out" in chalk on the ground is not being divisive; it is visibility especially needed for students who are thinking that they are the only ones going through a complicated, sometimes painful, coming out process. Need I remind all of the narrow-minded people out there that you are the ones placing emphasis on our sexuality? Most of us will tell you that sex is a minor part of our being and our political activism. I have heard people say we want special rights. We want the same respect and consideration that heterosexuals get: the right to marry, to have a family, to ownership in the case of the death of a partner, and to be heard.
LGBT people have so much to deal with. Our unions are not recognized in this country (except minimally at the state level in Vermont), and we have to go through so much more to adopt children because the powers that be want to characterize us as "child molesters" and "sexual deviants." As Candice Gingrich pointed out in her speech on Bruin Walk last week, "Coming out is a political act ... we must continue to make ourselves visible to gain ground." We want the same rights as everyone else has. For those of you who wrote our messages across campus, please keep up the good work. We should be seen as well as heard.

Coming Out Day Tagging Unproductive, Disunifying
By Sean Gregson (a fourth-year English student at UCLA)
Monday, October 14, 2002
How hideous a morning I had to endure as I walked by the chalk-laden buildings of Royce Hall and Powell Library. How fiendish the sight of yellow chalk on the concrete; how heinous the act of vandalism that left blue chalk on my Levi's after sitting on a formerly non-political bench. Most who came to school last Wednesday or Thursday saw the desperate cry for help that manifested itself in a barrage of tacky, artless propaganda strewn on the most cherished and beautiful buildings on campus. With such profound and ground-breaking declarations such as "I'm so gay that I can't see straight," and the Rain-Man-esque obsessive compulsive scribbling of the words "come out" in dozens of locations, a few individuals decided their political and social agenda was more important than the beloved architecture that makes UCLA one of the most attractive schools in the West. And although everyone on this wonderful campus has the right to express themselves and be themselves, graffiti is graffiti, even on "Coming Out Day." You have to wonder if students and faculty may have reacted differently if the graffiti was in gang-style writing? Does art have license to impose a solitary view on us? At least in some of the down-trodden neighborhoods where graffiti is prevalent, there is art involved. Talented artists paint over shabby buildings or dirty walls, and their social-political message is clear; we are not being heard and our leaders have failed us, so this is the only voice we have left. In the barrio, they make art out of that which is worn and outdated; they don't destroy art. If the vandals had time to graffiti some of UCLA's most beautiful buildings, I bet the alleged perpetrators are also privileged enough to attend a university and have an avenue through which they can be heard. They could go to Kinkos and print up some poetry, start a Reggae band, or get a soapbox at Venice beach. Elton John, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsburg, Freddy Mercury, Langston Hughes: those are inspiring artists with a vision.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be heard. I'm a pro-hemp, Spanish-speaking, Anglo-Celtic immigrant who loves Italian wine, Argentinean women, and eating Chinese food in the backseat of American cars. But I'm no tagger. The point I'm trying to make is that we should not celebrate our differences so acutely that we forget our similarities. By creating mutually exclusive groups, we create tension and strife. I enjoy the diversity of Los Angeles. It gives me the opportunity to absorb different cultures and learn their ways and insights. Simply put, we are all enjoying the perks of the American dream and we are all Bruins. That's our group. Yes, there is still hate in the world and much tolerance and understanding to be desired, but America is the place where we confront the clash of cultures.
At no time in history have more differing ideologies resided in so small an area as right now and right here. Almost all cultures and religions have at one time or another had a voice in the creation of America. In a democracy, our collective voice is far more powerful than our separate agendas, and with more solidarity, California has the potential to be one of the loudest and wisest voices in the world. So save the chalk for the professors. They're gonna need it.

Queer Alliance hosts Coming Out Day Carnival
By Amy Frye  (DB Senior Staff)
Friday, October 11, 2002
"I'm so gay, I can't think straight." Phrases like this, scrawled in chalk all around campus, make many students aware of National Coming Out Day.
The day commemorates Oct. 11, 1987 when half a million people marched on Washington for gay and lesbian equality.
Today, events are taking place all over the country, and a benefit CD featuring songs of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender musicians will be released from the Human Rights Campaign. A week of activities at UCLA culminates today, as six student groups that form the Queer Alliance treat the UCLA campus to a carnival- style festival. "We want people to have fun and appreciate where we're coming from. It's not just education we're about, it's also about creating a fun environment on campus through collaboration," said Faith Cheltenham, a fifth-year history student and co-chair of BlaQue, one of the student groups hosting the festival.
In order to accomplish their goal, the Queer Alliance will have a "Dunk the Homophobe" dunk tank, an "Escape the Closet" velcro wall, kissing booths, a D.J., carnival games and resources available to students. The alliance invited many organizations on campus to come set up a table during the festival, including fraternities and sororities, which have been supportive of LGBT issues by hosting hate crime programming, planners said. "We definitely wanted to reach out because they have shown incredible spirit," Cheltenham said of the Greek System. Groups in the surrounding communities are also invited to partake in the festivities, and many businesses, such as Zone d' Amour in Westwood, have donated prizes. Cooperation has been key in the planning and realization of this event. The Queer Alliance was officially started this year, and has worked well together, members said. They started planning for this week in August, said Jwo Lee, a publicist for GALA, , one of the six student groups in the alliance. "The separate groups are necessary, but now we have a way to help each other and know what other groups are doing," Lee said. Ronni Sanlo, the director of the LGBT Campus Resource Center, said this event is "wonderful, and provides students with the opportunity to see resources that are available to them." The LGBT Campus Resource Center will have an information table at the festival and pass out free condoms.
Not everyone is supportive of National Coming Out Day, and will make it know at the festival, organizers said. Every year, protesters from around the country show up to oppose the celebration. "We respect free speech, as always, but the whole point of National Coming Out Day is for people to come out of the closet, and it's kind of hard to do that when someone is screaming at you that you're going to hell," Cheltenham said. The alliance has found an interesting way to deal with this problem. Starting last year they set up a lemonade stand where people can pledge money for every minute the protesters stay, and then donate the proceeds to a charity. "If they're going to be there anyway we may as well make some good out of it," said the political and programming chair for GALA, Roy Samaan. This festival will be followed by a closing reception at Bradley International Center from 8 to 12 p.m. Sanlo said much has been accomplished on campus regarding LGBT issues, but there is still a great deal to do.

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