LGVMA's GOOD NEWS!
originally printed in June 1998 issue

Final Words from LGVMA's First Student Representative

Sara White recently graduated from the North Carolina State University School of Veterinary Medicine.  She joined the LGVMA board as the first official student representative in l996 in Louisville.  Until recently, Dr. White was the only female representative on the board and has been instrumental in developing our student programs at LGVMA.

We would like to congratulate Sara on her recent graduation and thank her for all her fine work as LGVMA's first official student representative.   We look forward to all her future contributions to the organization as an At-Large Board Member....and beyond.

As I leave veterinary school, I want to take a little time to reflect on my time as a lesbian veterinary student, and to compare my experience to those of several other lesbian, gay, and bi students. As the LGVMA student representative for the past two years, I have had the chance to meet or hear from students from veterinary schools all over the United States and Canada.

Most of the students I have met in person or over e-mail have been out to some extent at school and feel comfortable with that, but many know of other students in their schools who kept their gay or lesbian identities secret because they were uncomfortable with or afraid of being out at school.

Some people who are out have come out to their entire class through their activism or involvement in a student GLB club. Others have only told individual classmates as they become friends. A student at Florida said she "came out" by simply referring to her partner by name in conversations with classmates. Most people said that they do not "advertise" their orientation, but do not hide it either.

No one who wrote to me referred to any incident of harrassment, and most felt as though their classmates were for the most part fairly open-minded and accepting. One student referred to a conversation with a previous graduate from her school who said that people had a harder time with the fact that she drank soy milk than the fact that she was a lesbian (I have found this to be true, too!). My general feeling from the people I heard from was that most of their classmates were accepting, and that they had a handful of friends at school with whom they could discuss all matters of gay/lesbian interest.

In some cases, the class has even made its own moves towards accepting lesbian or gay students; one woman was even invited to place a picture of herself and her partner on the engagement/wedding page of her school's yearbook. Of course, the students I have heard from were the ones who were relatively out and tended to feel comfortable in their environment, and their experience and impressions are not representative of those of their peers who are not out.

There are many schools with organized LGVMA chapters, usually open to students, faculty, and staff. Students from schools which have no organized student GLB group tend to make connections with other gays and lesbians in the vet school or in the larger community. Many students who have found an active community of lesbians and gays outside of vet school see no real need for a group or organization at school. Other students feel as though there would not be enough interest among GLB students at their school to form any such group. At one school, some students who were interested in forming an organization did not try, because they felt that the administration would not be receptive.

Students find out about the LGVMA in a variety of ways. A few are introduced to it through student groups or school LGVMA chapters, but many learn of the organization by pure chance. A student at OVC in Guelph, Canada discovered an LGVMA newsletter in the "Peer Helper room" at his school. Another student, from Michigan, learned of the LGVMA while she was in San Francisco when she saw an article in a small local newspaper about two LGVMA members.

As for my own story, it goes something like this: I came out to much of my class gradually during my first year of vet school. My school (North Carolina State) has no LGVMA chapter, and I made few connections with lesbians or gays from school. I did find community outside of school, and during my second year became active in a local Lesbian Avengers chapter. I even hung up a few fliers advertising Avengers meetings at the vet school. A few students from other classes tore down my fliers; I replaced them. To make a long story short(er), some of the Avengers fliers were deemed unacceptable, and I ended up in the Dean's office explaining myself and the fliers. After our talk, the Dean mentioned that he had just received an LGVMA newsletter. He photocopied it for me—and that was how I learned about the LGVMA. Since then, I have been open with my classmates about being a lesbian and about my involvement as a student representative in the LGVMA. I have been met with acceptance and good humor from my whole class.

Overall, it seems as though most students are as comfortable—or as uncomfortable—being bisexual, gay, or lesbian in veterinary school as they were when they started school. The intensity of vet school and the usual lack of organized social support structure leaves students to find or construct their own support. This process is much easier for people who have been out for a while than for people who are just beginning to deal with or become comfortable with issues of sexuality.

Perhaps the best thing we can do for these indidviduals— as students, graduates, instructors, or practitioners—is to try to create an environment within each school with which we are affiliated in which these students can find a safe space to be themselves. This could be done by simply being as out as you are comfortable with being, by hosting a pot-luck meal, or by beginning an official or unofficial LGVMA chapter at the school.

I would like to thank everyone who wrote in with comments about their veterinary school experience for this article. And to wish the best of luck to all students, and especially to the other new graduates!

-- Sara White, DVM