San Diego State LGBTSU Renamed as ‘Queer Student Union'; Stirs Controversy across Campus
BySan Diego State University's LGBTSU (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Student Union) student group has adopted a new name, titled 'Queer Student Union' to be more comprehensive, effective from the academic year 2013-14.
President Michael Manacop said that the word 'queer' represents all gender and sexual identities on campus without being too specific.
"We have seen our community's name grow from the 'gay community' to the 'gay and lesbian community,' then the 'LGBT community' and so on. Most recently our acronym has been often listed as LGBTQQIAA and its still growing. We decided instead of just adding letters, however many letters there are, we should just have an umbrella term," Manacob said.
A similar group at University of California, San Diego, is known as the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Association [LGBTQIA].
However, the campus community is unhappy over the change, especially about using the word 'queer' in the title.
Sophomore Jake Neely said that nobody likes to be called by the name; her family has taught her not use certain words in public and the word 'queer' is definitely on that list.
The term 'queer' is used to address campaigns and academic programs relating to the LGBT community.
In their defense, the student group alleges that they want people to be educated about everything, and not feel afraid to ask questions about the community.
Manacob said that earlier, 'gay' was marked as an offensive term, but now it is a politically correct term. As time passes by, the word 'queer' will also be embraced.
Other California campuses such as the University of California, Irvine, have been using the controversial word since 'The Irvine Queers' inception, in 1972. This group comprises of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, among others.
LGBTSU, established in 1975, began to operate as the 'Gay Student Union,' for nearly 40 years. For the past few years, it has changed its name constantly, with the addition of more and more communities to its group such as lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The union was officially renamed to LGBTSU in 1997, after the addition of the letter 'T' to its former name 'LGBSU'.