In 1989, an openly gay man ran for student body president of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO). During his campaign, Tim Hughes bravely endured harassment of all kinds on campus, including verbal and physical abuse, and even death threats. These events incited more than 100 UO faculty members to publish an open letter to the university community, which appeared in the May 24, 1989, edition of the Oregon Daily Emerald. By late 1989, UO President Myles Brand established a Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Concerns, appointing Sara Douglas, a faculty member in Computer and Information Science, and Cheyney Ryan, a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy, to co-chair it.
The President’s Task Force was charged with analyzing the degree to which discrimination based on sexual orientation existed on the university campus and, consequently, the way in which it negatively affected the academic or professional lives of students, faculty, and staff. The Task Force was also charged with creating a plan to reduce or eliminate intolerance, insensitivity, and discrimination against gays and lesbians on campus, and to create a more accepting environment.
In 1990, the Task Force issued a groundbreaking report, Creating Safety, Valuing Diversity: Lesbians and Gay Men in the University. The Task Force found that the university environment was not safe for, tolerant of, or academically inclusive of lesbians, gay men, or bisexuals. It found that the prejudice occurring on campus that was directed toward lesbians, gays, and bisexuals paralleled behavior found in larger society, and that this prejudice ranged from outright physical violence and overt harassment to more subtle forms of emotional intimidation. The Task Force found that UO community members, regardless of sexual orientation, were constantly exposed to homophobic and heterosexist statements, assumptions, remarks, and images.
The Task Force recommended that the university establish a standing committee and other permanent structures that would allow the university to continue to address gay and lesbian concerns; it recognized the need for anti-homophobia/anti-heterosexism education throughout the campus for students, faculty, staff, and administration, as well as support for research and curriculum development that would help integrate gay/lesbian/bisexual scholarship into the academic life of the community. The Task Force also revealed that despite the fact that the university and the Oregon University System had nondiscrimination policies, specific university offices, services, and practices were openly in violation of those equal-treatment policies. Specifically in violation were student family housing regulations; health, life, and disability insurance benefits; ROTC; and career placement services to the CIA, FBI, and military recruiters.
