Alexandra Tashman: Students must be muscle in push for equality for LGBT community

The recent Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage represent immense legal strides for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. But important as these rulings are, much work has yet to be done in achieving full equality for the LGBT community.

With marriage equality finally achieved in California, students across the University of California system, and indeed here at UCLA, must continue to pursue and advocate for incremental steps toward full LGBT rights.

It is time for students – allies and LGBT alike – to begin focusing our energy on areas where the LGBT community lacks legal protections and support.

The most tangible way the UCLA community can continue to make a difference in the lives of our LGBT students, staff and faculty is at the state level.

One example of important legislation with the ability to improve the lives of many members of the LGBT community is a bill approved by the California State Senate last Wednesday. If signed by the governor, it will allow transgender students in K-12 schools to use facilities, such as locker rooms and bathrooms, and join athletic teams based on their gender identification and not on the gender they were assigned at birth.

These victories, though not small, are currently being won on the state and local levels and are specific and manageable changes that will provide UCLA students with the biggest opportunity to truly make a difference. Big goals need to be tackled on a small scale.

In terms of the UCLA community, this refocused advocacy can be best executed through campus groups including the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Bruin Lobby Corps.

The Bruin Lobby Corps, an extension of USAC’s External Vice President’s office, will help any students interested in LGBT issues learn how to organize effectively and lobby lawmakers, said Maryssa Hall, the USAC external vice president.

In the past, the Bruin Lobby Corps has sent students to Sacramento to encourage state lawmakers to pass the California DREAM Act, which extends in-state tuition to certain undocumented students. The group has also lobbied for tax measures and fee legislation favorable to students. Now, LGBT rights are a perfect target for students’ political muscle.

At UCLA, much of our student body has routinely demonstrated support for the LGBT community. In addition to the work of our LGBT Resource Center, our elected student government organizes programming geared toward education about LGBT issues including Ally and National Coming Out Weeks.

Our campus also tends to react strongly to openly anti-LGBT organizations, notably staging a counter-protest when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed on Bruin Walk.

UCLA students should focus this energy on achieving equality in areas where the LGBT community is underserved or stigmatized, such as mental health issues and homelessness.

LGBT people tend to suffer from mental health issues in disproportionate numbers, often as a result of harassment and rejection. In fact, according to the American Association of Suicidology, lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are 3.4 times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts, and while 4.6 percent of all Americans have attempted suicide, that number hits a staggering 30.1 percent for transgender individuals.

Furthermore, many LGBT community members, upon coming out to their families, are left with no place to live. In fact, 20 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

For the last several decades, marriage equality has been championed as the primary goal for LGBT rights in this country and, as the two Supreme Court cases showed, significant progress has been made on that front.

However, there are other less visible instances of inequality that the LGBT community grapples with on a daily basis. Identifying these issues and advocating for them on a local level will ensure that the fight for full legal equality in this country is targeted toward where LGBT student community members need it most.