OU added sexual orientation to its list of anti-discriminatory policies, which gender equality advocates agree is a step in the right direction.

OU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends’ officers were pleased with the addition.

“It should be really beneficial,” Laurel Cunningham, president of OU’s GLBTF club, said. “I know a lot of people that were uncomfortable with the discriminatory policy.”

Celia Ross, vice president of OU GLBTF also approved of the addition.

“I think it’s a very important step,” Ross said. “Now with it explicitly listed, any instance of abuse or harassment can be reported.”

The inclusion of sexual orientation in OU’s anti-discrimination policy will change the way people handle harassment, Ross said. Nothing had to happen when harassment based on sexual orientation occurred in the past, Ross said.

“This will help hold people accountable,” said Ross.

Both Cunningham and Ross agreed that Oklahoma’s overall conservative ideology was a factor that contributed to the delayed addition to OU’s anti-discriminatory list.

“It’s very tricky to pass something that members of the community might find radical or offensive,” Ross said.

Philanthropist Lynn Schusterman, founder and chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, praised OU’s administrative action.

“We applaud the recent decision of the University of Oklahoma to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy,” Schusterman said.

Though this action is a step in the right direction, the administration could still do more for the GLBTF community, including passing the gender neutral housing bill, Ross said.

Ross said the needs of OU’s transgendered population are largely ignored.

The addition, while helpful, will not alter the negative associations that surround homosexuals in conservative Oklahoma, Cunningham said.