NAFSA Lesbigay Special Interest Group
Annual Business Meeting Minutes
San Antonio, Texas
Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Kevin Morrison, Co-Chair, opened the meeting with a reading of the mission statement for the Lesbigay SIG. This was followed by an introduction of the officers and advisory board members. Those in attendance at a SIG meeting for the first time were invited to stand and were greeted with applause.

Mike Allcott, Co-Chair of the Salt Lake City Local (SLC) Arrangements Committee, commented about how important it was for a group like NAFSA to come to Utah and encouraged all present to try to attend. He wanted to dispel a couple of common misconceptions about Utah – it is not a dry (alcohol-free) state and polygamy is not legal.

Scott King noted that SLC would mark the 10th anniversary meeting of the SIG. He invited those present to volunteer to assist him in planning for events and activities to mark the anniversary. These might include a 10th anniversary poster session (Scott will coordinate preparation of a proposal for this) and a larger than usual (perhaps even an all-conference) SIG reception. We might need to do some fundraising to enable some activities. Thoughts, suggestions, and assistance were welcomed.

Jane Howard of the Conference Planning Committee for SLC made a brief announcement to the membership. She pointed out that conference proposals can be submitted on-line, that they are looking for creative and interactive sessions and workshops, and that the proposal application deadline is August 1.

Julie Trimpe, Co-Chair, asked for and received approval of the minutes from the 2002 meeting at NAFSA in Philadelphia.

Kathleen Sideli, Website Manager, offered an update regarding the SIG website. She reminded those present that the original site had been designed as a resource for professionals in the field, but that later we found that students were being referred to the site. SIG members have assisted in identifying resources for students that have been added to the site, but more is needed. She has several projects in mind to help expand and better organize the site, and welcomes volunteers. The projects include re-categorizing past newsletter articles, identifying additional resources for international students in the .S., and annotation of the bibliography (Kevin Morrison is working on this). She noted that she, as the contact point for inquiries from the site, does not receive a great deal of e-mail. Recently she was able to connect someone with an inquiry about the local climate in Uzbekistan to someone who had written a newsletter article for us several years ago who had personal experience there. Kathy encouraged everyone to browse the site and to send materials to be added as well as recommendations for additions and links.

Daniel Soto-Mayorga, Listserve Manager, informed members how to subscribe to the Rainbow listserv. He emphasized that no one has access to the subscriber list.

Susan Carty, Membership Coordinator, gave the membership report. Currently our membership list is used exclusively for mailing newsletters. There are 126 active members in the database. Membership in the Rainbow SIG currently includes receipt of two newsletters per year. Donations from members are welcome to meet expenses incurred during the year.

Rick Russo, Treasurer, submitted the financial report.

Susan Carty, Newsletter Co-Editor, distributed extra copies of the spring newsletter and appealed for submissions for future issues.

SIG-related sessions and activities at the conference were announced. They include the sessions “Are Human Rights Endangered by Globalization?” and “LGBT Issues in Many Cultures: Insights for International Student Advisors,” as well as the SIG information table in the main registration area.

Elections for officers were held. The slate was nominated and approved as presented. Officers for the coming year are:

Co-Chairs: Kevin Morrison & Jacqueline Bedard
Newsletter Editor: Eero Jesurun
Treasurer: Rick Russo
Rainbow Listserv Manager: Daniel Soto-Mayorga
Membership: Susan Carty
Website Manager: Kathleen Sideli
Advisory Board Members: Ismael Crotte, Bo Keppel, Peter Kerrigan, Jan Kieling, Joe Murnan, Julie Trimpe, Art Turmelle, Scott Van Der Meid,

After approval of the slate, Kevin Morrison encouraged others to volunteer to assist on the Advisory Board. The leadership would particularly welcome members from outside the U.S. to participate. Volunteers can contact Kevin. The SIG social event at the Painted Lady Inn was announced. All were invited to attend.

New Business: J. Scott Van Der Meid and Peter Kerrigan led a discussion about a broader inclusion of transgendered persons in the SIG’s name and mission statement. Several years ago this was considered and brought to a vote. At that time, 88% of the members who responded voted not to change the mission statement, but to continue to try to identify resources and to incorporate relevant materials into the Web site. There is greater support for these changes now. General discussion followed about the existing mission statement, the procedures that would be required to officially make changes, and the current climate for change. A motion to change the SIG’s mission statement to be more inclusive of transgendered persons was made and approved by voice vote. Several suggestions were made for a name change (GLBT SIG, Rainbow SIG, Out Sig, LesBiGayT SIG, Sexual Minorities SIG, Open Queer Alliance, Lesbigaytrans SIG, Pride SIG). Kevin Morrison agreed to collect suggestions for the name change and to facilitate an e-mail vote over the listserve. A motion to authorize the Advisory Board to follow through on a name change after further consultation was made and approved by voice vote.

Kevin Morrison encouraged everyone to consider proposing sessions and workshops for SLC. The meeting closed with a thank you to Julie Trimpe as out-going chair for all of her hard work on behalf of the SIG over the past two years.

Submitted by: Susan Carty, Indiana University