Uses the teaching of "Women, Gender, Visual Culture" as an occasion to consider a blind spot within the concept of academic freedom when it appears as a singular standard: the free expression of ideas by some can be used to create a hostile climate for others. Asserts that loyalty should be bound to the principle with sustained work…

If one's reference point is university life a generation ago, one can say that things are getting better for gay faculty, students, administrators, and staff. College administrators need to take an activist stance to counteract misinformation about gays and cultural prejudices, and the growing problem of hate-motivated incidents. (MLW)

At most colleges and universities, fringe benefits are offered only to married faculty. Requiring marriage for benefit eligibility discriminates against all unmarried couples, homosexual or heterosexual. Resistance to providing benefits to unmarried couples is declining, but both gay and straight couples will have to lobby together for domestic…

New federal rules ("don't ask, don't tell") about service of gays and lesbians in the military services have implications for college faculty and counselors. The regulations make a number of educational, personal, and social activities risky, including seeking counseling or medical assistance and speaking from a personal viewpoint in…

The history of the controversy over Southwest Missouri State University's production of "The Normal Heart," a play about acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is chronicled and concern is expressed about the resurgence of bitterness and hatred in the debate over academic freedom, even within the academic community. (MSE)

Notes the contradiction between the growing body of academic research in gay and lesbian studies and the fact that gay and lesbian faculty members remain second-class citizens in academe as well as in American political culture. Examines such issues as political activism and academic study; discrimination in the workplace; domestic partner…

The emergence of lesbian and gay studies as legitimate academic fields has opened a political debate. Scholars face charges that their research lacks rigor; blurring of the civil rights issue by alignment with racial/ethnic minorities is another obstacle. It is argued that without administrator, faculty, and student support, these studies are at…