If Sexual Orientation is a Choice, When Did You Choose? A History of the LGB Student Group at The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1983-2000

Abstract

The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire's Gay/Lesbian student organization (GLO) formed in 1983 and was recognized by the University in 1984. The students spent most of their social lives off campus. The student group offered education for the students and staff when there was great uncertainty during the AIDS epidemic and misconceptions of gays and lesbians. In the early 1990s the student group changed their name to GLOBE to incorporate bisexuals (Gay, Lesbian Or Bisexual Equality). Violence was directed at the gay, lesbian, and bisexual students around the time of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy including LGB people. The chronological timeline details the history of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual student group on the Eau Claire campus from 1979 through 2000. Though Eau Claire is not unique as seen through AIDS, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the murder of Matthew Shephard, the students and their activism promoted equal rights that eventually changed the cultural landscape at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire.