San Francisco Pride 2015

Andrea Wise
Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Learning
Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good
Co-chair, USFCA LGBTQ Caucus for Faculty/Staff

For the past three years, I have had the pleasure of co-chairing the USF LGBTQ Caucus for Faculty/Staff, which grew USF’s presence in the SF Pride Parade from 75 people in 2013 to 200 participants this year. Our spirited marchers are green and gold-clad USF faculty, staff, students, alums, and their families who are committed to the Jesuit calling of respecting the dignity of every person. The group shows what a richly diverse and loving community we have at USF. Given the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling, the Pride parade was even more fun than usual, with people holding “Love Wins” signs, dressing up as the Supreme Court Justices, and glittering up every corner!

In 2013, Ammon Corl (Assistant Professor, Biology) and I voluntarily stepped into the LGBTQ Caucus co-chairs positions to direct a loose network of 200+ faculty/staff aimed at promoting LGBTQ scholarship, community, and social justice on campus. I was excited, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I saw it as a great opportunity to apply what I learn and teach in the Leo T. McCarthy Center – How do you make change? Who do you work with to do so? What do “equity” and “social justice” really mean and look like?

As co-chair, I have had the opportunity to work with faculty, staff, students, and administrators to bring the campus community together to address LGBTQ equity issues. These issues include: successfully advocating for gender inclusive restrooms and gender inclusive housing, creating a way for students to easily change names on university documents, adding gender to the university nondiscrimination policy, and more. It has been an amazing leadership experience, teaching me about the importance of dialogue, trust, allyship, patience, and collaboration.

While I’m hopeful that now we can just say “marriage” instead of “gay marriage,” there’s more to be done, (read more here: http://ow.ly/P3rRd). Give me a shout if you want to use what you’ve learned from the Leo T. McCarthy Center to help me in the movement… We’ll be at it long after the rainbow Facebook profile pictures go out of style.

#LoveWins

To view the rest of our Pride photos by photographer Julio Cesar Martinez, visit our Flickr album and share with your friends! If you were at the Pride parade tag us in your photo to be featured in our Flickr album!