This blog post was authored by Lilly Norbeck, Unearthing Towson’s History Project student researcher, Summer 2024. 

On Monday, July 22, 2024, I conducted an oral history with Cindy Gissendanner. Dr. Gissendanner is the Graduate Director of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Director of LGBTQ Studies at Towson University. I asked her a series of questions about the history and development of the LGBT Studies minor currently offered under the Women’s and Gender Studies department in the College of Liberal Arts. Her responses helped me construct the following narrative history of the LGBT Studies minor at Towson University.

In 1996, Towson State University became the first university in the state of Maryland to approve a minor in Gay and Lesbian Studies. The minor, which was approved by the University Senate by an 8-1 vote, was spearheaded by English professor David Bergman and history and women’s studies professor Cindy Gissendanner. The Maryland Higher Education Coalition (MHEC) approved the minor and it was formally offered beginning in the 1997-1998 academic year. The minor was first housed under the interdisciplinary studies department. Despite being interdisciplinary in nature, the minor was primarily comprised of classes within the College of Liberal Arts. For instance, anthropology, history, psychology, and English were major fields offering classes for credit for the Gay and Lesbian Studies minor. A class offered in the College of Education about diversity in teaching also frequently featured LGBTQ content. Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Studies was a prerequisite class which could also be taken for core curriculum credit. This class introduced LGBTQ studies to many students, both within and outside of the LGBTQ community. The minor culminated in a class called LGBT 470, which was a topics course varying based on the expertise and interest of its instructor. Students could also participate in a capstone experience in which they would work with a faculty member to conduct research on a topic that interested them.

Nevertheless, classes discussing the LGBTQ community at Towson State University existed years before the minor was approved. The current director of the LGBT Studies program, Cindy Gissendanner, began working at Towson in 1984 as a visiting assistant professor teaching women’s and US history. She explained that some classes contained LGBTQ content before the minor existed and even before the Intro to LGBT Studies class was approved in 1995. These classes included an anthropology course called Sexuality and Cross-Cultural Perspective and a psychology course called the Psychology of Lesbian Culture. Dr. Gissendanner also integrated LGBTQ content into her US history courses. Women’s history in the US is in many ways intertwined with the history of the LGBTQ community. Dr. Gissendanner’s research into women’s history also led her to explore issues pertaining to LGBTQ history. She taught both topics in her US history classes, though not all Towson students were open to LGBTQ studies. According to Gissendanner, students were not accustomed to “hearing about LGBTQ history in their…classes that weren’t specifically like LGBTQ themed” and would respond to it with “nervous laughter.” While many students and faculty at TSU embraced LGBTQ studies as a valid and important field of academic study, others viewed the subject with animosity.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many LGBTQ students and faculty were not open with their identities. One major reason for this was the vehement homophobia pervading the US, including Towson’s campus. The AIDS epidemic, which featured a deadly virus that disproportionately affected gay men, was used as an excuse for homophobia and prejudice. At TSU in 1986, a student living in an on-campus dormitory posted a sign in their window reading “stop AIDS, kill a f—.” Gissendanner recounted this event nearly four decades later as an example of the vehement hate directed at gay individuals. Towson’s campus was no stranger to homophobia, and this event, among others, made it difficult and even dangerous for students to be openly gay. According to Dr. Gissendanner, “students reported…issues of, like, hate and discrimination aimed at them because of the AIDS epidemic” The rise of the New Right, a neo-conservative movement culminating in Ronald Reagan’s presidency, promoted “traditional” values including anti-gay attitudes. Young Americans, including college students, played a significant role in the growing popularity of the New Right movement, which opposed abortion, women’s equal rights, affirmative action, and gay rights. This political climate encouraged homophobic attitudes to fester. Gissendanner stated that the AIDS epidemic and “the emergence of the New Right…made it difficult to be openly gay on campus and off campus.”

The 1980s came and went and homophobia was still ingrained in the TSU community. For instance, the sign with a homophobic slur posted in 1986 garnered the attention of the university’s president, Hoke Smith, who promised that the students responsible would face repercussions. Instead, in a May 4, 1989 article in the student newspaper, The Towerlight, reported that the students were merely “counselled.” Students going unpunished after threatening violence against gay men demonstrates that campus was not a safe place for LGBTQ individuals. However, by the mid-to-late 1990s, Towson’s attitudes and policies regarding LGBTQ individuals began to change. Dr. Gissendanner reported that she began to teach a history course called Gays and Lesbians in US History in the early 1990s. The history department now had a class explicitly on the topic of LGBTQ studies. Other departments in the College of Liberal Arts offered classes rooted in LGBTQ content, including an English class focused on lesbian and gay literature. The introduction of such classes demonstrates a growing student interest in LGBTQ studies and shows that faculty were willing and eager to teach about it. Gissendanner stated that she included material related to LGBTQ issues in her history classes “where students would respond positively to it” and that “they were interested a lot.” Moreover, having classes on LGBTQ studies made it possible to propose and implement the Gay and Lesbian Studies minor. A new program needed to be built from extant classes. The Gay and Lesbian Studies minor collected various classes on LGBTQ studies under a single umbrella.

How did Towson University become the first higher education institution in Maryland to offer a minor program for LGBTQ studies? Gissendanner cited support from the university’s administration, particularly the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Many faculty members also supported the program, including a strong majority of those serving on the University Senate. However, Gissendanner recounted a single individual in the University Senate who “was concerned that it was politicized” and voted against approving the minor. Still, Gissendanner stated that it “was a lone voice” and that “we did have, you know, a fair amount of support, even at…the higher levels.” And with extant courses in the field developed and supported by various faculty members, it was possible for Towson to make history as the first school in the state to offer the program.

Offering the Gay and Lesbian Studies minor likely affected Towson’s public image. The campus could be perceived as more open toward LGBTQ individuals. Prospective students interested in the field might choose to attend Towson as opposed to other universities which do not offer an LGBTQ studies program. Gissendanner said that the introduction of the minor also affected existing students. The minor was “a signal to them that the university…is supportive of LGBTQ studies.” Still, Gissendanner aptly pointed out that

“you can’t erase homophobia with just an academic program,” but that the minor represented “acceptance of LGBTQ students, faculty, and…the idea that it is a legitimate area of study.”

The minor was not the only official change promoting LGBTQ rights at Towson at this time. In 1997, Towson added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination statement. This development was a change in wording, primarily symbolic. But other, more tangible, changes ensued. The Student Government Association refused to sponsor a Mormon group on campus that barred LGBTQ individuals from joining. The university’s anti-discrimination policy also clashed with Towson’s ROTC group. LGBTQ individuals were prohibited from openly serving in the military at this time. Though the conflict between Towson’s policies and those of the state continued, the support of President Hoke Smith and other TU administrators made it possible to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, at least concerning official university proceedings.

In 2005, the Gay and Lesbian Studies minor underwent a significant change. It was renamed the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Studies minor, including the terms bisexual and transgender. By 2005, more literature was available for gay and lesbian studies. Nevertheless, there was not much scholarly information on bisexual and transgender issues. A push to be more inclusive in research and teaching prompted Towson to change the minor’s name. Gissendanner stated that students became interested in bisexual and transgender issues and demanded that the program reflect these interests. However, there was also pushback against the inclusion of bisexual and transgender studies. The Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues, a faculty group that set the course for LGBTQ studies and issues on campus, was not entirely on board with a new focus on bisexual individuals. Gissendanner described this resistance, saying that she suggested finding “films or books, or, you know, journals that dealt with bisexuality” but “one of the members of the committee said ‘oh, I don’t think we want to get into that.’” Some individuals, according to Gissendanner, did not see bisexual individuals as part of the lesbian and gay community. This changed over time, however, and the committee morphed into the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues. The renaming of the LGBT Studies minor mirrored this increased level of inclusion.

Various departments developed new classes for the minor, including a criminal justice course called Queer Issues in Crime and Justice, a communication studies class called Sexual Communication, a religious studies class titled Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Judaism, and a family studies course on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Families. These courses cemented the minor as a truly interdisciplinary course of study. However, around 2016-2017, Dr. Gissendanner advocated to move the minor from interdisciplinary studies to the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, of which she was the chairperson. Gissendanner hoped the change would increase student interest in the LGBT Studies minor. However, the program has always been small, comprised of around 20 students at its height in the 2010s. During and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, participation in the minor declined. Gissendanner suggested that the economic, mental, and physical toll of the pandemic has impaired many students’ ability to engage with the minor.

Nevertheless, the minor program has been transformative for many of its students. Gissendanner suggested that offering a program for LGBT Studies has familiarized students with political activism. The study of LGBTQ issues introduces themes of resistance and politics. Gissendanner said that this is especially important in the light of recent legislation restricting the rights of LGBTQ individuals. For instance, Gissendanner noted that “we teach how LGBTQ people have resisted and what kinds of activism they’ve engaged in historically and in contemporary society.” Moreover, Gissendanner and the other architects of the minor did not want it to be “just about victimization.” Though the oppression and obstacles faced by LGBTQ individuals are addressed in the minor’s curriculum, Gissendanner hopes that

“students might learn about different strategies and different positions that LGBTQ people have taken” and “learn from them in terms of developing their own strategies for change.”

Now, the minor is in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Studies, further expanding the identities included in its curriculum. Regardless of its enrollment, it prepares students for the workplace and gives them the skills to promote diversity and inclusion in their institution. For example, the LGBTQ Studies program offers an internship opportunity with the Center for Student Diversity’s LGBT Student Development program. Students gain expertise by helping support LGBTQ individuals at TU. Though it remains a small program, the LGBTQ Studies minor represents the resiliency and dedication of its proponents. Their efforts made Towson University a trailblazer for LGBTQ studies within the state of Maryland. The LGBT Studies minor helped legitimize LGBTQ studies as an academic field and established a space on campus which validated and respected the identities of LGBTQ students. There is still much progress to be made for LGBTQ rights at Towson. But the LGBTQ Studies minor is a significant step in the right direction.