Temple's Gender and Sexuality Climate Task Force — a group of administrators, faculty members and students charged by the Executive Office of the President with working to foster a welcoming, safe and supportive community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ) members of the university community — has announced the creation of a new online clearinghouse of LGBTQ support resources and information.

The website, called "Diversity and Inclusion: Community Perspective," is the first action inspired by the results of the task force's recent survey of Temple's gender and sexuality climate. Visitors to the site will be able to find a wide range of information on university policies, counseling services, student organizations, academic programs, campus safety, equal opportunity compliance and more, as well as links to dozens of off-campus local and national LGBTQ resources on health and wellness, relationships, advocacy, community, recreation and a variety of other subjects. The site is also the online home of the Gender and Sexuality Climate Survey results.

"We created this website in response to the loud-and-clear message we received from the survey that Temple needed a central clearinghouse of resources of interest to LGBTQ students and staff," said Vice President of Operations William T. Bergman, chair of the task force. "If we want to achieve our goal of making Temple a place that welcomes and encourages inclusion and diversity, people need to have easy access to information."

Bergman stressed that the Diversity and Inclusion site, which is housed at the President's website, will continue to evolve and grow in the coming months as other resources are added.

"This is an important first step in a long journey," said Associate Professor Scott Gratson, director of Temple's Interdisciplinary Communications program and "a proud member of the LGBTQ community."

"This is the first time there has been a coordinated effort to link all the information and resources available on campus, in Philadelphia, in the region and in the nation," he said. "And it's available at the touch of a button at any time of day."