GSS: looking for recognition on campus
By SHAWN BEHLEN
Staff Writer
The status of the Gay Student
Services at Texas A&M remains
a mystery at this time. Last
month, Texas Attorney General
Jim Mattox gave the University
permission to appeal the 5th
District Court of Appeals' deci
sion that required Texas A&M
to recognize the GSS.
But GSS President Marco
Roberts says they will continue
the fight.
"We'll take it as far as we
have to and we're almost sure
we're going to win," he says.
"So if the Supreme Court de
cides they want to hear, of
course we'll continue on.
"I think we're going to win
and I think A&M knows we're
going to win. Right now, it's
just a question of keeping us off
campus as long as possible."
The move for recognition by
the GSS started at Texas A&M
eight years ago and Roberts
says that, at that time, nobody
realized how far it would go.
'The curious thing is that in
the beginning GSS didn't want
recognition, they just wanted to
put up fliers," he says. "But
A&M said you had to be recog
nized to do that.
"So a few people went over to
the student activities office to
get help and to see how you go
about getting recognition. In
fact, the goals of GSS were de
signed and patterned from the
advice of the Director of Stu
dent Affairs. That's why every
body thought everything was
fine, then they said no."
Roberts says the University
has not helped its image by
pushing the case this far up the
judicial system.
"There is no doubt about it
that A&M has hurt itself, not
just with this GSS case, but
with a lot of decisions when it
comes to civil rights," he says.
"They do not have to agree with
us being gay and everything,
we have never said that. But the
fact that they feel they can deny
someone the right to express an
idea, simply because they don't
agree with it, says something
about the way they think.
"As it is right now, our group
is probably the most well-
known gay student organiza
tion in the state — all because
A&M refuses to recognize us.
"You keep hearing world
class university — a lot of peo
ple don't even know what that
is — and that is a toleration for
all ideas. It doesn't matter what
they are like. The kind of image
at this University is that we
have no toleration of any ideas
other than our own."
The University has stated
that it is continuing court pro
ceedings because the GSS does
not fulfill the criteria as a service
organization. Roberts says
otherwise.
"GSS is not based on social
izing," he says. "So for anyone
to claim that we are a dating
service — I can assure you that
that person has never been to
one of our meetings or has any
idea qf what we do."
Roberts says that what they
do can be summed up in two
sentences.
"First," he says, "we want to
help the gay community out
there deal with the gay issues,
help them develop and inform
them on all the variety of as-
ects of their lives. On the other
and, we also want to educate
the non-gay population so that
there will be a little more under
standing about the gay lifestyle
and therefore a little more toler
ance."
Roberts says GSS is continu
ing the fight because recogni
tion will help them fulfill these
goals and because it will also
See "GSS" page 13