Being gay in a homophobic environment is difficult enough, but for gay people of color the pressures of being accepted are even harsher.

"The color is seen first and decisions are made after that," said Vernon Sanders, a black member of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance. "There's racism not only in the gay community, but in the community as a whole."

Some gay people criticize groups like the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance as being ignorant of the separate concerns of people of color. LGBSA has also been accused in the past of being sexist.

"Just because you're a minority doesn't mean you won't discriminate against other groups," explained Stacey Jiminez, a Hispanic LGBSA member.

Less than 5 percent of the people attending LGBSA meetings are people of color and about 10 to 20 percent are women, leaving white men as the majority, said Sanders (senior-film and video).

"Gay minorities definitely exist, they just don't participate as actively," Sanders said. "A lot of times in the gay community there is an ignoring of minorities in terms of social aspects and romantic interests."

As a community, gay people are struggling for equal rights, but a problem arises when minorities' issues are "shuffled over" during this fight, Sanders said.

Gay white men deal only with the injustices of being gay while gay people with a double or triple minority status have to deal with these injustices along with issues within their race or sex, he said.

"The issues become progressively broader. If you're black and gay you have more issues to deal with," Sanders said. "Minorities are always sectioned off from society in the first place, and calling them a double minority cuts them off again."

But until more people of color openly express their orientation and attend meetings to support their concerns, the lack of attention paid to them by the gay community will not change, Sanders said.

Prejudices in LGBSA led to the formation of other student groups, said Jimenez (senior-exercise and sport science). True Colors, an organization for gay people of color, was formed in the summer of 1989 to address issues like racism, she added.

An organization for bisexual women is currently forming, Sanders said.

"An Afro-American lesbian woman would probably be more comfortable in a different type of meeting," said Jeff Kemp, social/educational co-director of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance.

Other than these groups, LGBSA plans on working closely with minority organizations such as Black Caucus to incorporate racial issues in the meetings, Kemp said.

"We're trying to do things to get our community more aware," Kemp said.