The NIU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center will celebrate its two-year anniversary in March and to start a new year, new programs are being established and old ones revamped.

Margie Cook, the LGBT Resource Center coordinator, first adapted the center’s new goals in a LGBT programs “Vision List” created in 2000.

“Once the center was opened, we had to get it up and running and the ‘Vision List’ had to be pushed back to get our new office up and running and all the things that come with that,” Cook said.

Now that the center is approaching its second year, Cook is capable of focusing on the programs highlighted on the list, along with some new ones, she said.

Cook’s first goal is making changes in the center’s Safe Zone program, which began before the center was established.

The program’s mission statement states: “The Safe Zone Program is designed to foster a welcoming and supportive campus environment for LGBT students, faculty and staff by creating a visible network of allies.”

The program’s name will be changed to “Ally Program” to refocus the program on the role of an ally and what that means, Cook said. The symbol on the signs given to the allies who have gone through the program will also be changed.

The program allows people to visibly express their support for the LGBT community by a sign given to allies who go through a training workshop conducted by Cook.

Peter Gutierrez, assistant chair of the psychology department and an ally, attended one of these workshops.

“We learned about the extent of prejudice and discrimination targeted at them, the percentage of students on campus who identify as LGBT, ways to address prejudice and discrimination inside and outside the classroom and the types of issues students might want help with,” Gutierrez said.

“It was similar to other forms of diversity training I’ve done, but with the focus on sexual orientation,” he said.

Allies are meant to be a resource for LGBT community members and for those who have questions about LGBT issues.

“LGBT people are invisible to us unless they choose to make their identity known and in the same way for LGBT people, anytime they go into a new environment, how people might respond to them is invisible to them,” Cook said. “And unfortunately, we still live in a time when there are people who are negative or unaccepting about or toward LGBT people. So the Ally Program is a way to make support more visible.”

The current symbol is an upside down pink triangle that comes from World War II, Cook said. It was used by the Nazis to identify gay men, but since has been given a new meaning.

“In recent times, that symbol was adopted by the LGBT community as a symbol of remembrance and the importance of addressing hatred. It was transformed into a symbol of pride,” Cook said.

The new Ally Program symbol will incorporate the colors of the rainbow because the rainbow now is recognized more by newer generations, she said.

Ally professor for allied health professions, Sally Conklin, goes farther than just having the sign outside her office door. On the bulletin board outside her door is a pride poster and a Human Rights Campaign sticker along with a poem called “You are Worthy,” written by Maggie Mills, a former LGBT student of Conklin’s.

“For those who have eyes to see will know,” Conklin said.

Because the subject of sexual orientation is a main part of her classes, Conklin said she likes to keep her students guessing on her own orientation. She refers to her husband as partner in all her classes.

“Until it (the word partner) becomes a generic term that lots of people use, then it will be a marker for peoples’ sexual orientation. It needs to be used by everybody,” she said.

In addition to the physical changes in the new Ally Program, the training and materials given at the workshops will also be updated.

“When the program began in 1997, we hadn’t started talking about transgender identity and what that means,” Cook said.

Allies who have gone through the original Safe Zone program will not have to be retrained, but Cook may offer training specifically on transgender identity if they would like to get up to date.

Additional programs being worked on from the “Vision List” include an advisory board of students, faculty and staff to help Cook determine the direction and growth of the center, she said.

An alumni organization also is in the process of being established to strengthen the ties between current and past members of NIU’s LGBT and ally community.

Cook also is working on a class for next fall on leadership in the LGBT community. The class will be taught by Cook and will be offered for credit through the university.

For more information on current or upcoming programs, call 815-753-LGBT.