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Homecoming may be over, but that didn’t stop two alumni from helping the University of Maine community.
Emily Cain, the Orono representative to the Maine Legislature, and Matthew Small, the co-chairman of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Council, led the second installment of Coming Out Week with a brown bag luncheon on Monday in the Coe Room of Memorial Union.
“I really enjoy the opportunity to return as a graduate student and focus on these issues,” Small said. “There’s always a two goal objective with the first being to get the word out, and then the second is getting everyone involved as well.”
Cain and Small, both 2002 graduates of UMaine, discussed the issues that are facing the GLBT community on campus. Along with Small, Cain is also a part of the UMaine Won’t Discriminate movement, as she is one of two staff advisers.
So far, the UMWD organization has received support from several academic departments, while also getting backing from various student organizations such as Alternative Spring Break, All Maine Women and Male Athletes Against Violence.
Besides addressing the issues from a campus standpoint, the duo discussed how these effects are also important at a statewide level.
Small presented a report entitled, “Discrimination Against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals in Maine.” The 33-page report was done by the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence in Portland.
The report chronicled various studies, including the average income for a GLBT individual in the state. The results of the study showed that out of the 48 people surveyed, 30 of them were making less than $25,000 a year. Later on in the discussion, Small pointed out that there “are people who work blue-collar jobs, who could get discriminated against even more compared to those in a white-collar job.”
As the luncheon continued, the discussion started to center on the Nov. 8 election concerning Question 1, which will determine whether or not to extend civil rights protection to sexual preference
“I had just moved to Maine when this issue was heating up again in 1998, and this time being in the legislature, I had the chance to learn about the history of the issue and how far it’s come,” Cain said. “This time, we saw it come down to real people, real stories and real hurt.”
