With Student Government Elections only one day away, members of the gay and lesbian community are taking a close look at candidates’ ideas about diversity, the Safe Space Program and the Spectrum Alliance. Rachel All, a psychology senior and co-chair of the Spectrum Alliance — a student organization dedicated to seeking equal rights for the gay and lesbian community — said members of her community have a number of concerns. “Right now, one thing we’re really worried about is the Safe Space program,” All said. “Right now, there really isn’t a safe space.” The Safe Space campaign’s goal is to train faculty and staff members to be allies and supporters to gay and lesbian students and meet in offices. All also said she hoped to see changes to University Policy Statement 01 — which ensures equal opportunity for admission to and participation in programs at the University — regardless of “race, creed, color, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disability or veteran’s status.” Sexual orientation is protected by the policy statement, but someone who doesn’t present their sex in a traditional way is not, All said. For example, a woman with a short haircut and looser, non-traditional clothing may be viewed differently than a woman dressed in a more traditional style, with longer hair and tighter clothing. All also said men and women whose actions or appearances seem “obviously gay” are often discriminated against in the hiring and firing of employees. All said members of the Spectrum Alliance would like to see “gender-neutral” or co-ed bathrooms on campus, because she said people who do not present their sex’s traditional appearance are often harassed in public restrooms. Bo Danos, a landscape architecture sophomore, said he wanted to see a lot of changes not only from Student Government but within Spectrum Alliance as well. The Spectrum Alliance is not representative of the gay community as a whole, he said. “The organization speaks for themselves only, and that has got to stop,” Danos said. Danos said Student Government should give the Spectrum Alliance more direction and ensure that they are representative of the entire gay community on campus. “This is something that’s going to be taken on each year, by every administration,” Danos said. Danos said the Spectrum Alliance should focus on trying to be accepted into society and refrain from focusing on smaller issues, such as the use of the word “queer,” alluding to last semester’s extensive media coverage that addressed the issue of formally using the word “queer” to describe a member of the gay and lesbian community. Danos also said Student Government should pay less attention to the Spectrum Alliance and concentrate on other organizations that deal with diversity, such as the Black Student Union. “[Student Government] should be dedicated to diversity in general,” Danos said. Heath Hattaway, SG presidential candidate with the “In Focus” campaign, said gay and lesbian issues are too specific for a push-card, but he and Rachel Spinner, his vice-presidential running mate, have definite ideas for the community. Hattaway said he wants to work on the Safe Space program and create a single location for members of the community to get counseling and attend support groups. Right now, faculty members can put Safe Space stickers on their office doors to let students know that they are allies. It could be possible to reserve office space in the remodeled Student Union for that kind of facility, Hattaway said. Before the reconstruction, Student Government could work with different facilities on campus to find an office space for people who need counseling, Hattaway said. “We need a physical safe space,” Hattaway said. Spinner said she and Hattaway are making an effort to strengthen diversity awareness at the University. “Our take on diversity is that it’s a lot more than just black and white,” Spinner said. “It includes age, sexual orientation — everything.” Spinner said she and Hattaway hope to work with orientation and minority affairs to start a diversity program at freshman orientation. “The program will say, ‘this is LSU and this is diversity,’” Spinner said. Michelle Gieg, SG presidential candidate with the “Making it Happen” campaign, said the gay and lesbian community is an important part of the campus community. “I think that the LGBT community is vibrant and their acceptance is growing on campus,” Gieg said. Gieg said she thinks cultural awareness training for new faculty is vital to diversity on campus. “Until the institution makes that commitment through training and competency, I don’t know how much we will gain from just educating students,” Gieg said. Gieg said some students are treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation. “Too often, students are discriminated against in the classroom,” Gieg said. “It’s an awareness issue.” For example, women who wear more masculine clothing with more masculine haircuts could be mistaken for men by their professors and referred to as “him” or “sir,” Gieg said. The University has to strive for more acceptance and awareness, Gieg said. Gieg said she is much more aware of the gay and lesbian community after going through Safe Space training.