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Restoring Rainbow Pride In Hawaii In response to the insensitive remarks while announcing a makeover of the school's Rainbow logo made recently by University of Hawaii at Manoa Athletics Department athletic director and a women's volleyball coach, the UH-Manoa administration in Bachman Hall have taken action that pleases the gay leadership on UH campus and the Honolulu gay and lesbian community. Working closely with members of the UH Systemwide Task Force on Sexual Orientation and Oahu Gay and Lesbian Community Center, UH administrators are mapping out corrective action and remedies to both repair community relations with gays and lesbians and to restore Hawaii and the university's Aloha image internationally. Ultimately, the administration is pushing to improve the climate in athletics and an environment of safety for its gay and lesbian athletes, coaches, staff and their gay-friendly allies. Hawaii state law offers protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The University system has a similar policy protecting students, faculty, and staff including coaches and athletic support staff against discrimination in higher education including athletics. Yoshida's comments that the Athletic Department was changing the 77-year-old Rainbow logo because of market confusion with the Gay Pride Rainbow flag touched off a storm of protest, much of which was taken up on the national and international sports pages. U of H Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida's comments, and those of assistant women's volleyball coach Charlie Wade, who publicly claimed he was approached by a gay flight attendant because of the Rainbow logo, littered global sports pages. "That logo really put a stigma on our program at times in regards to it's part of the gay community, their flags and so forth," Yoshida told KGMB-TV in remarks aired yesterday. "Some of the student athletes had some feelings in regards to that." Yoshida made the statement after a ceremony on campus Wednesday, July 28 at which the new logo was unveiled. During that ceremony, attended by 500 invited guests, assistant women's volleyball coach Charlie Wade also alluded to the rainbow's gay theme: "I can't be certain, but I think that the rainbow had something to do with a flight attendant giving me his phone number one time." In an effort to stop further
negativity, Dr. Dean O. Smith (Academic Affairs) and Drs. Doris
Ching and Amy Agbayani (Student Affairs) are working closely in
guiding the groups working with Yoshida to formulate an effective
plan of action. Under discussion, among other things, are the
development of a gay and lesbian arm of the existing alumni group
and sensitivity training for coaches and staff in the athletic
department. Ken Miller of the Honolulu Gay and Lesbian Community
Center is leading a discreet effort to identify UH alumni interested
in helping shape and launch the proposed Gay and Lesbian Alumni
Association. If you are an GLBT alum of any of UH's 10 campus system
and would like to know more about the current developments and may
be interested in the finding out more about the proposed alumni
association, please contact
Ken. |
Hawaii decided to change the name
and logo of
their football team from the Rainbow Warriors to the Warriors
because of the association with the gay rainbow flag.
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have been in an uproar since then, and are striving to
end this discriminatory policy at the University. Here
is the latest, from one of the women heading the charge, Susan
Miller, Research Specialist at the University of Hawaii.