CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Gays, Bisexuals Petition for Recall

Members of Cal State Northridge’s gay and bisexual community are petitioning for a recall election that could lead to a student senator’s removal from office.

A petition served last month to David Weiss, the president of Associated Students, accused the graduate-student senator, Bill J. Gropp Jr., of actively discriminating against gays and bisexuals in letters to the student newspaper and to various clubs, organizations and individuals on campus.

In order to obtain a recall election, which could ultimately lead to Gropp’s removal from office, 600 graduate-student signatures are needed on the petition, sponsored by Strong Queers United in Stopping Heterosexism (SQUISH), a newly formed and politically active group on campus.

“Students have a right to recall their representatives,” Weiss said. “If they can get enough signatures, it should be done.”

Gropp said, “I think the petition is a joke because my term runs out in December. . . . The petition claims slanders and lies.”

But Gropp added that he still signed the petition that could lead to his removal because he respects SQUISH’s freedom of speech.

Gropp said SQUISH started the recall process after he voted against the organization’s charter in early September. “I did not discriminate against them on basis of any reason. Their constitution shows that they seem to intend to discriminate against heterosexual people and their activities. . . . I attempted to have the chartering tabled one week because I felt the senate did not read SQUISH’s constitution carefully,” Gropp said.

“That is outrageous,” responded Desiree A. Dreeuws, head of publicity for SQUISH. “He is assuming we are against heterosexuality and that is incorrect.” She said there is a difference between “heterosexism,” which she defined as the belief that only heterosexuals are complete human beings, and heterosexuality.

Tensions between the gay and bisexual community and Gropp have escalated over the last year, Dreeuws said.

Students need to be aware that Gropp has been using his post as a forum for his “political bigotry,” said Mat Rodieck, one of SQUISH’s founders.