The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center provides additional information and insight to the Carbondale community during national GLBT History Month.

During October, the GLBT Resource Center has held daily events such as panel discussions and guest speakers, both on and off campus, to help the public become more informed and aware of all things that fall under the GLBT umbrella: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, genderqueer, intersex, transsexual, etc., according to the resource center’s website.

Wendy Weinhold, coordinator of the resource center, said she values GLBT History Month because it is an opportunity for many of the university’s departments and offices to collaborate and create partnerships.

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“We are really canvasing campus with activities,” she said. “We have literally had an event on every weekday of the month, all involving different departments of the university.”

Weinhold said the center works to create a space for education, advocacy, resources and outreach.

“We do all kinds of events: trainings, programs, speakers, activism and social space,” she said.

Nathan Franklin, an alumnus of SIU and the Saluki Rainbow Network — a registered student organization dedicated to providing services, activities, support and encouragement to GLBTQA community members — said he became open about his sexuality while he was in college.

“It was a lot easier for me because I had that separation from my immediate family,” he said. “Being in Carbondale gave me the opportunity to branch out to another community — a place where I belonged.”

Although he said Carbondale is a smaller city than where he’s from, Franklin said he considers it to be more open-minded.

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“I’m from Springfield and even though it is a bigger city, it is not nearly as open and welcoming as the Carbondale community is. They don’t have the resources that the SIUC community does,” Franklin said.

Kevin Hostetler, chairman for the resource center’s advisory board and food service assistant manager at Grinnell Hall, said he has been involved with campus GLBT relations since the early 1990s, and the Carbondale populous has had a very liberal and accepting take to the GLBT community.

“We are getting there,” Hostetler said. “I see improvement with each passing year … I think that people are beginning to realize that members of the GLBT community are no different from the everyday person.”

Hostetler said the college atmosphere helps students discover who they are.

“This is a time for young people to be on their own,” he said. “They are away from their families and hometowns and have the opportunity to really find out who they are and explore their options.”

Hostetler said GLBT History Month gives the public a chance to learn what GLBT community is.

“The more information that can be put out there, the better off the population will be as a whole,” he said.

A calendar of events can be found on the resources center’s website.