By Erin Rosenking, Statesman Editor

"No one really knew about us before but we are going to work better this semester," said one member, who wished to remain
anonymous.

The club's renewal has not come without problems. A computer was stolen out of their office this past week and they were the
victims of harassment at their table on Monday.

"We wanted to have a table for Coming Out Day to show that as a club, we were coming out," said another member.
But whatever efforts the LGBTA had planned to come out were seriously thwarted by the U.S. Army which also had a table
right next to the LGBTA's.

In the hour that the Army was there, one soldier in particular used a number of slurs and made other comments against the
LGBTA member, who was by himself. In addition to calling the member a "freak," he was accused of being an "AIDS-infected
bastard" by the soldier when he noticed the gay person taking medication. Suffering from a slight cold, the LGBTA member was
occasionally coughing, which prompted the Army person to tell him that he should not have swallowed all that c- last night.
"I was really scared," said the victim. "I didn't even want to look in their direction. What was I going to do against three military
people?"

A reminder that such biases exists was the recent anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, the gay student from the
University of Wyoming. Shepard was lured from a bar where he was then robbed of $20, tied to a fence and pistol-whipped
into a coma before he died. The attack led President Bill Clinton to call for more national hate crime legislation, which has
prompted the expansion of such laws in a few places.

The accused killers of Shepard are soon to go on trial. The alleged ringleader will get the death penalty if convicted and his
accomplice is already serving a life sentence for his role in the murder.

LGBTA is also suffering problems with their budget, which is currently frozen. Polity requires that all clubs submit an attendance
sheet from their meetings, an obligation that has traditionally been waived for the LGBTA in light of the potentially sensitive
nature of the club. This has suddenly become a demand, but one that executive board members are not ready to comply with.
"It has never been an issue before and now all of a sudden they want the names and social security numbers of our members,"
said a member of the board. This subject is pending and the group plans on negotiating with Polity.

In spite of difficulties, the club has embarked on a mission to get the word out about their presence. "We hope to be better
perceived this time, said one member. "We are going to saturate this campus with posters that say 'We're Back!'"