LGBT Center name change aims to increase inclusivity

The Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life has changed its name to appeal more broadly to the campus community.

The center reopened as the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity when it moved from the lower floor of the West Union Building to a location near the main entrance of the Bryan Center this summer. The new name was chosen in order to be inclusive of those who identify with labels besides those in the original acronym, said Janie Long, director of the center.

"A big thing for me is that the center be very inclusive of students who would like to be connected to this space, that any student could see this space as a resource to explore their identity," Long said.

The shift clarifies that all are welcome at the center, including straight allies, who may not have felt included by the previous name, Long added.

But the new name also reflects a proliferation of sexual and gender identities. In recent years an increasing number of Duke students have expressed identities beyond the LGBT labels, said senior Jacob Tobia, who served as co-president of Blue Devils United, the student arm of the center, last year. Students have moved beyond the previous labels to identify as intersex, queer and demisexual among other terms. Expanding the title of the space will be liberating for students who find that sexual or gender labels do not fully describe them, Tobia added.

"I identify as gay sometimes and queer sometimes, but the name gay or queer will never contain the whole of who I am," Tobia said. "Having a space that is less concerned with labels and more concerned with diversity and exploration is something that's exciting for me."

The name may need more explanation than the previous one, but it also prompts students to explore the differences between sexuality and gender identity, which people often lump together, said senior Denzell Faison, who also served as co-president of BDU in the past academic year.

The change coincided with the move to a newly renovated space just off the plaza entrance to the Bryan Center, which puts it in a higher-traffic location than the previous spot underneath West Union. This marks an improvement, Faison said, because visibility is crucial to the center's mission.

"We didn't want the center placed in a basement somewhere where it could easily be avoided," he said. "When people visit campus, they will see that Duke values all students, no matter how they identify."

This acceptance was less clear when Long came to Duke seven years ago. A couple years into her tenure, somebody vandalized the door of the old center and broke the small plastic sign into pieces, she said. The replacement was a sturdy metal sign bolted to the wall that could be read from the plaza.

That old sign for the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life now sits propped up on Long's desk in the new site.

"That sign was a real milestone," Long said.