Suspension of Housing Policy for Homosexuals Stirs Protests

About 30 students representing various campus groups gathered at UC Irvine Friday evening to demand that the university reinstate a policy allowing gay, lesbian and unmarried heterosexual couples to live in student family housing.

The students accused the university of bowing to political pressure and anti-gay and lesbian sentiment in suspending the trial housing policy that had been in effect since September, 1988.

“There were no studies done to examine how well the plan was working, there were no complaints from other tenants and the staff felt the program was running very smoothly,” said Garrett Green, co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Student Union. “To strike down the policy without comment is inexcusable.”

UCI Chancellor Jack Peltason suspended the policy last week without consulting any of the campus groups that had been involved in developing it, the students charged.

Although university officials have said that suspension of the policy was not a gay issue, Horace Mitchell, vice chancellor for student affairs, told The Times that concern had been expressed by other UC chancellors about the appropriateness of housing gay and lesbian couples in married student housing.

UCI had been the only UC campus to experiment with allowing non-traditional living arrangements in family housing.

Until the pilot program was suspended, 11 non-traditional families were granted permission to rent housing at the 860-unit Verano Place apartments.

They included three lesbian couples, four sibling families, three students living with their parents and one extended family.

Now, only non-traditional families that are related by blood will be allowed to apply for the housing.

University officials have indicated that the non-traditional families already living in the apartments will not be asked to leave.

A non-student partner in one of the lesbian couples who shares family housing with her student companion called the decision to revoke the housing policy a “big step backward.”

“Why shouldn’t we get housing if she is a student and has met all of the qualifications,” she said. “We should be treated just like a married couple. We have been together for several years. If we could go out to get the marriage license, we would.”

The woman, who declined to give her name, said the couple could not afford to rent an apartment off campus.

Students at Friday’s gathering said they plan to meet Monday with Vice Chancellor Mitchell, and have scheduled a campuswide rally Tuesday to protest the university’s decision.