UW-Madison is starting the Safer Space Initiative in response to campus incidents such as hate crimes in Ogg Hall, a verbal assault at 433 Dayton Street and community incidents regarding the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, like the kissing contest at West Towne Mall.
Funded by UW-Madison's LGBT Campus Center, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Dean of Students, the
Safer Space Initiative seeks to address the social atmospheres surrounding LGBT students.
The entire atmosphere of the community is illustrated by the ‘kiss-in' contest at West Towne Mall,\ said director of the LGBT Campus Center Eric Trekell regarding a contest held Feb. 11 that initially ruled to ban gay couples from participation and later retracted the contest guideline.
Any political activity and rhetoric surrounding LGBT rights tends to lead to more violence, according to Trekell. With the pending same-sex marriage ban amendment to be voted on in Wisconsin later this year, the program was created in anticipated response to any lashing out that might occur.
The short-term goal of the Safer Space Initiative is to address challenges LGBT people face at UW-Madison and in the Madison community. Long-term goals are to ""turn the initiative into a comprehensive anti-hate initiative and establish some collaborative efforts with other groups,"" Trekell said.
UW-Madison senior and member of the All-Greek Council Lauren Damico said the Council thought it was important to co-sponsor LGBT events and show their support of LGBT issues. The Council co-sponsored a movie Monday night about high profile anti-gay homicides.
""The Greek community needed to do something to show the greater Madison community and the campus that what happened in regards to hate crimes in December is not something that's ok,"" Damico said. ""It is not what the Greek system promotes or stands by.""
Joe Elder, UW-Madison professor of sociology, said the program will draw people's attention to the fact that LGBT people are often the target of unkind remarks. He singled out prejudice in the public and the media as an underlying cause for LGBT discrimination.
""It's important to indicate this is conduct which is generally not approved,"" Elder said. And people who indulge in it should be reminded that this is not acceptable.""
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