Photo by Douglas Dukeman

LGBTIQ Faces
Meet and talk politics with sophomore Alex Ferrando, one of the new co-chairpersons of UNC's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender - Straight Alliance
by Douglas Dukeman

LAMBDA editors decided that for the second LGBTIQ Faces, it would be exciting to introduce the University community to one of the newly elected co-chairpersons of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender – Straight Alliance on campus. Alex Ferrando has only been at the University for just under two years, but in that time he has managed to share his quirky sense of style, addictive smile, witty humor and now his impressive leadership skills with a vast number of students, faculty, staff and administrators alike. Ferrando has been everything from an organizer of this year’s highly- acclaimed drag show, “Curious,” to a LGBTQ Office volunteer and Safe Zone speaker. He sat down with me for a more extensive look at himself and his hopes for the GLBT-SA.

LAMBDA: So tell our readers about Alessandro Emilio Ferrando…

AF: Born April 26, 1984 in Miami, Florida, I’ve always just been called Alex by anyone who knows me. I moved to Savannah, Georgia at the age of five and still reside there now. I’m a sophomore here at UNC-Chapel Hill, majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Latin America. I’ve been involved with GLBT-SA ever since I arrived on campus and have been recently elected as one of next year’s co-chairpersons. Many more people may actually know me from my performances with Kamikazi, a hip-hop dance group here. I guarantee if you’ve ever seen a random white boy dancing around campus, it was probably me.

LAMBDA: Is that the only wild and crazy thing about yourself?

AF: Wow, something else wild and crazy, huh? How about attending a private all-male Catholic military high school only to turn around and dress in drag to perform in this year’s GLBT-SA drag show, “Curious.” I think that’s about as wild and crazy as it gets with me.

Photo by Douglas Dukeman

LAMBDA: As a LGBTIQ-identified student, how do you feel about the UNC campus – students, professors, administrators, etc.?

AF: Originally, I was excited about campus and its accompanying climate. During my first year here, the LGBTQ Office was set to open, and there was a lingering anticipation about the Sexuality Studies minor. The University administration seemed committed to implementing the provisions laid out by the Provost Report published in 2002 about the LGBTQ campus climate. Unfortunately, I believe the campus may have taken a few steps back this year. Between the University’s poor handling of the homophobic classroom incident earlier this semester and their apparent lack of desire to publicize the anti-harassment policy protecting sexual minorities on campus, some issues certainly need to be addressed before I can once again feel optimistic about the University’s direction on this matter.

LAMBDA: GLBT-SA has gone through some changes in the past year. As one of its newly elected co-chairpersons for 2004 - 2005, can you explain a bit about the GLBT-SA and how it functions?

AF: GLBT-SA certainly has gone through quite a makeover this year, but I think I can synthesize a brief explanation of how things will run next year. Basically, GLBT-SA will simply serve as the umbrella organization attempting to foster a more inclusive LGBTIQ campus community and work with other organizations in helping bring awareness to LGBTIQ issues. Underneath the GLBT-SA, we will have three autonomous sub-organizations dealing with more specific issues. LAMBDA is our publication branch and will continue to promote visibility and act as the sole LGBTIQ voice among campus publications. The Committee for a Queerer Carolina will be our more radical activist branch of the group. They will be involved with direct action campaigns on campus and will also tackle progressive issues in addition to specifically LGBTIQ ones. The Unity Conference will also continue to work under the GLBT-SA as an annual gathering of the Southeast region, aiming to discuss the intersections of gender and sexuality with other identities, strategies for effective grassroots organizing and work that other LGBTQ activists are doing in the Southeast.

LAMBDA: How do you envision the organization’s role on campus next year?

AF: I definitely envision the organization remaining primarily as a force promoting visibility of LGBTIQ issues on campus and working to improve the campus climate. In our visibility work next year, I believe the organization needs to step up and make a concerted effort to educate more about marginalized identities in the group (Bs and Ts) rather than remaining purely gay- and lesbian-focused. In my opinion, the organization must also look into devising a plan to include more straight allies in the group. We should make it clear how much we love our allies because we really do!

LAMBDA: There has been some criticism of the GLBT-SA in the past as not being able to adequately involve the entire LGBTIQ community on campus. How do you feel about these criticisms and what do you think can be done to welcome more people into the GLBT-SA?

AF: I was on GLBT-SA board this past year, and I can definitely see how LGBTIQ community members could have had legitimate complaints about the organization’s exclusive set-up back in the fall. Fortunately, I believe we have responded to these grievances and managed to fix the root of those problems this past semester. As long as I have been here, I have never seen a greater amount of opportunity for regular general body members to become as heavily involved with the organization and make an impact. Case in point, the wonderful Celebration Week schedule this semester was created almost entirely by general body members. What we need to work on as a group is extinguishing the idea that GLBT-SA is a clique and that the same individuals are the only ones participating semester after semester. This organization is for all LGBTIQ students on campus and I believe the group as a whole has learned how valuable our general body members can be. I promise if you have a fabulous idea you want to see come to fruition, need to vent about a current LGBTIQ issue in the press or simply want to sit down and mingle with other LGBTIQ individuals and straight allies, the GLBT-SA will be the place you want to be next semester.

LAMBDA: Any plans to be a career activist after college?

AF: Hmmmm. Well, I have given it some thought. One of my career plans right now is actually going to law school and becoming a lawyer where I could potentially see myself training to continue the fight for LGBTIQ rights. I think I would absolutely love that, but you never know what might happen. No matter where I go though, I guarantee I’ll continue working for LGBTIQ rights, be it as small as simply creating visibility in my workplace or as large as fighting against internal policies established by my employer to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Co-Editor in Chief and senior Douglas Dukeman, a religious studies and philosophy double major from Norton, Ohio, can be contacted at lambda@unc.edu.