Get Involved

The following is just a brief list of the many ways to get more involved with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Ally communities at Mizzou. While the list is never complete, we hope that it will give you some ideas for making yourself or your group more aware, more inclusive, and more resourceful.

Ways to Get Involved in the MU Ally and LGBT Community

• Sign onto a listserv to receive notices for campus events and get connected with the community.
• Attend a Safe Space Training session put on by the LGBT Resource Center
• Write, design, advertise or contribute time to shOUT Magazine, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Ally Magazine of Mizzou.
• Download or pick up a hardcopy of shOUT Magazine.
• Discuss your opinions and experiences at insideOUT while getting perspective from listening to others.
• Attend a Triangle Coaltition (Tri-Co) meeting or social activity.
• Contact the LGBTQ Resource Center to have OUTreach advocate LGBTQ Awareness for your class, staff, youth group, residential community, fraternity, sorority or other organizations you are involved with.
• Stop by the LGBTQ Resource Center in N214 Memorial Union and say hello or browse through our library, magazines, and movies
• Come into the Resource Center and find some of our community resources or look over our scrapbooks of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Ally history at MU.
• Utilize our resource center staff as a safe space to ask questions and become more educated on issues and resources.
• Check for opportunities to participate in LGBT and Ally events or programs that meet your specific interests.
• Read through some of our online resources to become more educated on LGBTA issues including ally development, primers on LGBT issues and awareness, coming out, and more.
• Plan one of our awareness excercises as an activity for a group with which you are involved.
• Browse some of our links relating to other GLBT issues, such as religion and spirituality, coming out, transgender issues, allies, race and ethnicity, etc.
• Stop by one of the other great campus offices such as the Women's Center, Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, Multiculture Center, Rape Education Office, or Wellness Resource Center.
• Stop by and talk with us or contact LGBTQ Resource Center Coordinator Ryan Black (blackr@missouri.edu) about new ideas for programming, activities, brownbag discussions, and more.
  
  Adapted by the University of Missouri LGBTQ Resource Center

More Ways to Support LGBTQ Individuals on Campus

• Display information about local career resources, such as LGBTQ-affirmative employers, for LGBTQ clients.
• Provide staff with training about the social and political impact of LGBTS issues in the workplace.
• Be open to discussing LGBTS issues with students as these relate to career choice, resumes, interviews, determining the policies of a company, and coming out at work issues.
• Maintain a list of people who can be used as resources for LGBTS students.
• Know which employers interviewing on your campus have non-discrimination and domestic partner policies for LGBTS people and offer that information to students.
  
  In the Residence Halls and Sorority/Fraternity Houses--
• Ensure that handbooks and contracts have a statement regarding non-discrimination as it relates to sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Indicate where students should report if they feel harassed.
• Address LGBTQ issues in orientation programs and make new students understand that LGBTQ students are a welcomed part of campus life.
• Insist that organizations have a discussion on how they would deal with one of their members “coming out.”
  
  In the classroom --
• Include information about LGBTQ people who made significant contributions in the past.
• When discussing current events, include LGBTQ issues.
• Use examples of LGBTQ people in lectures and discussions so they are not marginalized.
• Be clear with your students/classmates that homophobic and heterosexist comments and actions are not acceptable and will be addressed in an educational, informative, and non-threatening manner.
  
  In all Student Affairs departments --
• Include LGBTQ people in examples in classes, workshops, and presentations.
• Ensure that publications are written in such a way that LGBTQ students will feel included in the audiences; avoid heterosexist language and assumptions.
• When possible, include openly LGBTQ students as members of the student work force.
• Participate periodically in structured dialogues with LGBTQ students. The purpose of this dialogue would be to raise awareness of the nature and extent of homophobia/heterosexism within the university and the particular unit, and to explore avenues for the problems related to the access and quality of services for LGBTQ students.
• Make official statements condemning assault
  
  All Campus Areas --
• When LGBTQ students come to you with issues, take them seriously and support them in addressing concerns they are sharing with you.
• When they or their property are verbally or physically assaulted, make clear and visible statements that homophobic behavior and attitudes will not be tolerated.
  
  Adapted from "51 Fabulous Ways to Support Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Students on Your Campus” by Troy Gilbert, Stanford University