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Possible lawsuit raises questions of gay students' acceptance

The GSA cubicle in the commons is abundant with gay pride, but is the campus as a whole?

By William Kahn

A former Washington and Lee University Law student may file suit against the University because of the harassment he says he faced there. He has written a complaint that condemns the university’s administration for not doing enough to support its anti-discrimination policies. This case raises questions of whether gay students are truly accepted on campus.

Bert Leatherman (pictured here), an openly gay man, came to Washington and Lee Law School in August 2003 on a full scholarship.  During the fall semester of his first year Leatherman says he was harassed repeatedly. In a timeline on his personal Web site Leatherman documented each time he was harassed and his dealings with the law school administration. The alleged harassment included hostile and violent postings on his study carrel including pictures of assault weapons and terms like “fudge packer” and “fag.” According to the Web site, many of these postings were in response to Leatherman’s protest of the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.  The postings and antagonistic confrontations by students, he said, led him to seek out the administration’s support and guidance.

In letters to the administration, Leatherman wrote that he felt “intimidated and targeted” and “threatened and uncomfortable.”  He thinks he never received adequate response or help from the administration. Leatherman also named students whom he knew to be responsible for the postings and they were never punished. Dean Sidney Evans, who is named in Leatherman’s complaint, declined to comment, citing possible litigation. Also Dean David Partlett of the law school did not respond to an interview request.

After one year at W&L Law, Leatherman transferred to New York University's Law School.  Leatherman said he is planning to file suit sometime next semester, for the cost of his remaining two years at law school at NYU and to compensate him for his claims of physical and emotional pain.

In a letter to W&L President Burish, Leatherman proposed dropping his suit if W&L made some proactive changes in its dealings with homosexuality on campus.  These changes included giving money to gay-friendly organizations like the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and Gaylaw and the establishment of a “truth and reconciliation commission” with the goal of making W&L a more minority friendly institution.

President Burish wrote a letter to Leatherman stating: “It appears to me that W&L's actions in response to your complaints were consistent with our policies. My efforts [towards an environment of civility on campus] will proceed independent of your contemplated lawsuit.”

In response to a request for the University’s official position on the matter, Tim Kolly, Director of Communications and External Relations said, “During his time at the University, we responded in a timely and constructive manner to Mr. Leatherman's concerns. Should Mr. Leatherman bring a suit, and he has threatened it for months, we are confident of the outcome in any such action.”

While the outcome of this case is unknown, it has already awakened campus discussion of whether W&L is truly gay-friendly and if there is a problem with discrimination.

Leatherman believes that his experience at W&L is indicative of a larger problem of discrimination.  “The Princeton Review ranked W&L [in 2003] a more oppressive environment for gay students even than the military academies and Brigham Young University,” he said.  “I believe that statistic indicates that my experience of harassment and disenfranchisement is far from unique.”

In an informal poll among six openly gay students on campus, none would classify W&L as hostile environment towards gay students.  Three out of six would classify W&L as a gay-friendly environment.  Two students responded that they had been harassed because of their sexuality. 

One of the gay students who had been harassed said: “Lots of incidences go on at W&L but rarely to the degree that would warrant reporting.  Some might say that any incident warrants reporting, but I disagree.  You don't make change by causing big stirs at W&L.  Little stirs go a much longer way.  As a gay student here, I have had comments made by classmates under their breath, but I have bigger fish to fry and prefer to correct them on my own and be done with it.”

Rian Lewis, a senior at W&L and a former Co-Chair of the GSA, has seen a change in the school's acceptance of homosexuals. She knows of several freshmen who came to school openly gay and have experienced no problems thus far. Lewis said this was different from her freshman year when there were “a few isolated incidents” of harassment. “The climate is getting better,” she said.  “I don’t know if that means it’s great yet, but it’s getting better.”

Lewis worked with Leatherman on the GSA and said he sometimes clashed with the group because of his way of handling things. Concerning the alleged harassment of Leatherman she said, “I feel like it might be just an isolated incident . . . because the way he was approaching it, was gonna get a negative reaction. I think it would have gotten a negative reaction on the undergraduate side had anybody been as antagonistic about it . . . You can handle things differently and not have the same results that he did.”  Lewis also noted that administrators, especially President Burish, have been very supportive of the GSA.

• Video: click here to see Mary Jacob Rankin, Pan-Hellenic President, talk about gays in the Greek system  

• Video: click here to see Rian Lewis, former Co-Chair of the GSA, talk about how the atmosphere at W&L is changing

• Video: click here to see Susanna Brailsford, a senior at W&L talk about how her view of gay people has changed since she was a freshman

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