But what he found at MSU was something his K-12 education couldn’t provide — relief.

“(In high school) I’d been harassed and bullied,” Doebler said. “I’d been called a homo and a fag. My principal was really supportive, and I had good friends. And knowing that I had that support was what helped me through those years.”

Once at MSU, Doebler found the Alliance of Queer & Ally Students, an accepting environment in which he was able to grow.

Now vice chair of the Alliance, Doebler, a social relations and policy and psychology sophomore, feels safe on campus as he raises awareness about Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender, or LBGT, issues through the organization.

Doebler was among more than 1,000 members of the MSU community who took part in a 2008 survey about LBGT climate on campus.

Results from the report were presented at a campus climate symposium last week, which happened to coincide with a number of highly publicized national incidents centering on homophobia.

From the suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi to the harassment of University of Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong by a government official, the violent results of homophobia have caused a stir nationwide during the past few weeks.

In response to the events, Doebler, along with close to 100 MSU community members, participated in a vigil Wednesday evening at Beaumont Tower to commemorate those that have been lost as well as to allow those who might be struggling the chance to speak out.

The event, “Make It Better: A Vigil to End Homophobia and Transphobia”, was organized by the LBGT Resource Center.

During Wednesday’s vigil, sophomore prenursing major Jonathan “Hammy” Hamilton told that despite homophobia, the LBGT community would remain strong.

“We’re not going to step down,” Hamilton said. “We’re a strong group of people. Together we can push past recent tragedies and hopefully prevent it from happening again.”

The vigil was a time for the community to come together, Doebler said.

“We know that we’re together, and we’re fighting to go on,” Doebler said. “(It’s) also a chance for people to get their feelings out and breathe.”

Testing the waters

After receiving a grant in spring 2008 to conduct the survey, the LBGT Resource Center, the Center for Gender in Global Context and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Student Association, or GLFSA, sent questions about campus climate out to the university.

GLFSA President Grant Littke said there was concern the three groups were not aware of all the issues on campus. The last in-depth survey of the LBGT climate at MSU was conducted in 1992, he said.

Michael Craw, GLFSA vice president and principal investigator of the survey, helped create the design and wrote some of the questions. Craw said the groups anticipated about 200 students would respond to the survey and were surprised with the overwhelming response.

“I think that one of the reasons people were interested in responding (is because) we haven’t had a conversation about climate in so long,” Craw said. “We had so many heterosexuals who responded to the survey; it shows a large part of the heterosexual community is concerned.”

About 66 percent of respondents identified themselves as heterosexual, according to the report.

Travis Brown, a second year graduate student and self-identified heterosexual, said that it’s important for members of the LBGT community to feel supported.

“It’s important to bring the community together,” Brown said. “When you get positive support from the local community, it strengthens your resolve.”

Results from the survey show areas MSU can improve on and areas where MSU is successful. The survey was important to raise awareness, theatre junior Chris Robinson said.

“In light of recent events, I think it’s extremely important for people to be aware of the LBGT community on their campus,” said Robinson, who is openly gay. “I think that the report will bring light to the issues.”

Making strides

Survey results showed MSU is a overall a positive place for LBGT community members to learn, work and live, said Deanna Hurlbert, the assistant director for the LBGT Resource Center.

“It affirms that MSU is a pretty good place to be for LBGT people,” she said. “I think that it gives people a sense of comfort here. Certainly not complete safety, (but) MSU is a pretty good place to be relative to our size.”

According to the report, 57 percent of respondents were comfortable or very comfortable with the overall climate at MSU, and many responded that resources like the LBGT Resource Center and its complex caucus groups were positive resources.

Littke said he was pleasantly surprised at the results.

“The climate has clearly improved in the sense that this is a welcoming, receptive climate,” he said.

Although prejudice isn’t something of the past, communication senior and openly-gay, YouTube vlogger Tyler Oakley said his experience at MSU has been positive overall.

“I’ve been out my whole time at MSU,” he said. “It wasn’t really a concern if or when I could come out; it was if people were going to accept me.”

Room to improve

Although MSU has made progress during the last decade, Doebler said he hopes to see things continue to improve, especially in the area of faculty and campus attitudes toward transgender students.

“It’s not just an MSU problem but a general problem in society,” he said. “There’s been a rise in knowledge about transgender issues, so we’re moving in the right direction. It’s just going to take some time.”

The MSU Counseling Center prides itself on being an LBGT friendly environment, said Jennifer Grzegorek, a staff psychologist for the center, but she agreed work needs to be done in terms of resources for transgender students.

“(The university) is early on in developing policies that are transgender inclusive,” Grzegorek said.

Only eight transgender individuals responded to the survey, but of those who did, 62 percent said they were uncomfortable with campus attitudes toward the LBGT community.

Improvements can be made in health care, housing and bathrooms for transgender individuals, she said.

Students also echoed that although campus is a relatively safe place for the LBGT community, East Lansing is sometimes not the most accepting environment.

“In no way do I feel comfortable going to the bar by myself,” Oakley said.

“Just this year, I’ve been pushed down and called names.”

Other areas in which the report suggested MSU could improve include making faculty feel more comfortable, improving LBGT services at Olin Health Center, being more welcoming of community members of color and the potential initiation of an LBGT studies program, among other things.

Although the national tragedies stemming from homophobia haven’t struck the MSU campus directly, Oakley said it’s something he hopes MSU pays close attention to in the coming months.

“(Harassment) could have happened to any student, any roommate, any student body president,” he said.

“It just hasn’t happened here yet. There’s always room for learning and learning from mistakes. I think if there is going to be real change at MSU, it has to come from the students.”