Timeline Express Announcements

The Working Groups on Reporting, Resources and Education are each tasked with a unique aspect of campus life to improve with regards to LGBTQ affairs. They are composed of students, many of which are from the Out for Change Campaign, faculty, and staff.   View the three working groups’ final reports here

In a relatively quick and intentional process, the President’s Office, the Office of Campus Ministry, and members of the three working groups create physical space on campus for the LGBTQ Center and hire Shiva Subbaraman to bring it to life.

Georgetown University’s request for a stay on the D.C. Appeals Court decision is denied by the Supreme Court, and the administration decides to not take the next step and formally argue the case in front of the Supreme Court. The University agrees to provide gay student groups full benefits but, as dictated by the court’s ruling, does not need to confer official endorsement.

The D.C. Court of Appeals overturns the D.C. Superior Court ruling and states that the Human Rights Act prohibits any educational institution from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The court distinguishes between “endorsement” and simple provision of benefits, and it rules that equal treatment requires, at the very least, equal access to benefits.

The student plaintiffs swiftly appealed Justice Bacon’s decision to the D.C. Court of Appeals after their loss in 1983. While the legal process worked its way through the courts, gay activists got involved as well. The “politically influential” Gay Activist Alliance and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club meet with Mayor Barry and convince him that GU violates D.C. Human Rights law and thus is not eligible for millions of dollars in city bonds. Georgetown continues to apply for municipal bonds over the next few years, and Mayor Barry continues to withhold them.

After the retirement of Justice Leonard Braman and delays in starting the trial proceedings, Justice Sylvia Bacon enters the decision in favor of Georgetown University, dismissing the complaints of the gay groups on the grounds of the need to preserve religious freedom.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Leonard Braman rules in a preliminary “summary judgement” that Georgetown University has violated the D.C. Human Rights’ Act by refusing to grant the Gay People of Georgetown University (GPGU) and the Gay Rights Coalition (GRC) student group benefits. The trial, however, must still occur at the request of Georgetown University.

“Declaring they will no longer tolerate treatment as second-class citizens,” they accuse the University of “unlawful discrimination.” The two student groups involved jointly file the case with the D.C. Superior Court.

President DeGioia and Professor Astarita meet with 4 students from GU Pride to discuss what would be covered in the Town Hall on October 24th.