David Funk, a student leader of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) during the mid-1980s, recognized the importance of resources for University of Oregon students who were lesbian and gay. In an article printed by the Oregon Daily Emerald, Funk suggested that GALA represents a resource for students on campus who are seeking to not only be able to come out and be out as gay or lesbian, but also to find a community where homophobia and discrimination against lesbians and gay men is recognized as a problem. Funk stated: “We [GALA] are not a club. We are not a social organization, although we do that. We’re a service organization.” Funk said that due to this service aspect, GALA was one of the “most important thing[s] in [his] life.”
