New student athlete group at Eastern Michigan University

Via Outsports, this article in student university The Eastern Echo:

EMU org SAGA aims to defeat homophobia in sports
By Kyle Wackrow | THE EASTERN ECHO
Added October 24, 2010 at 8:42 pm

It’s common for homophobia to be overlooked in the world of sports, but such actions were the inspiration for Eastern Michigan University’s Student Alliance for Gay Athletes (and Allies).

“A friend was at a team party where he was being harassed and verbally abused and we didn’t want anyone else to go through that,” said Maggie Manville, co-founder of SAGA. “We thought there needed to be a lot more awareness in the athletic community because there’s barely any. There are few who know gay athletes, or gay people in general, so it’s something that isn’t talked about.”

Stemming from EMU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, SAGA is a new addition to the LGBT community of EMU and its athletic community. The group plans to promote and push for a homophobia-free athletic environment for student-athletes through awareness and education.

“SAGA member Shawn Gancarz and I started talking about it around March and it became a real organization this past fall,” Manville said. “We were corresponding with the University of Michigan’s Michigan Athletes and Allies Partnership but they fell through. Once initiative taken and we spoke to the LGBTRC’s Program Coordinator Mary Larkin, the group finally started to form. Once we were assertive things started to work out, but it was a long process.”

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