Jacob Tobia
Duke University
Class of 2014
Program of Study: Human Rights Advocacy and Leadership
Intended profession: International Human Rights Researcher/Advocate

"I'm ecstatic to be presented with the National Voice and Action Leadership Award. It is such an honor to be included in a long legacy of passionate LGBTQ activists who are committed to making change on their campuses. Undoubtedly, the award and the opportunity to work with OUTmedia that the award represents will help me to be a more effective activist on my campus. I'm planning on bringing an OUTmedia performer to Duke for a get-out-the-vote rally against an amendment that will define marriage as between one man and one woman in the constitution of my home state of North Carolina. Thank you Campus Pride!" ~ Jacob Tobia

Active in LGBT grassroots activism and education efforts since high school, Jacob currently serves as the director of LGBTQ policy and affairs in the Duke University Student Government. He also serves as president of Duke Students for Gender-Neutrality, is a member of the Duke LGBT Task Force and serves as outreach chair for Blue Devils United, the undergraduate LGBT student group.

Jacob has also been active organizing his campus against the impending May 8, 2012, vote on an anti-LGBT constitutional amendment that would ban recognition of marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships and other benefits for same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples.

Jacob explains in his cover letter: “This passion for human rights has not been isolated to campus activism; rather, it has been incorporated into the very core of my education at Duke. Through my academic career thus far, I have enrolled in courses that have addressed the ethics of corporate responsibility, the struggles faced by refugees and asylum seekers, and the ways in which the current education system fails underprivileged and minority youth, to name a few. In addition, next semester I will be participating in an intensive course of study program called Duke Immerse Global that works to compare the US Civil Rights Movement with the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa. This is in preparation for this upcoming summer, when I hope to travel to South Africa and work with the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project in Johannesburg researching anti-LGBT hate crimes in the country.

“It is my hope that this course of study, in concert with my extensive experience as an activist, will function as a stepping stone to a career in human rights research and advocacy with the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, or the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. I hope to spend my life understanding and advocating for those whose human rights are abused, neglected, and violated.”

This was just the beginning for the committee to understand Jacob’s deep passion to insure LGBT people on the global scale are protected from discrimination.

As we all know passion only goes so far. Leaders need to have a strong understanding of the challenges facing our movement. We asked each applicant to share what they feel are the greatest challenges facing our movement – Jacob in his own words;

“In my opinion, the LGBTQ community currently faces two distinctly different yet related challenges.

"First, the LGBTQ community must come to understand the ways that gendered systems empower only certain parts of the LGBTQ community. As a community, we are currently making significant strides towards larger equality in marriage, in military access and in general acceptance within the professional world, but most of those spheres are only friendly to predominately gender conforming LGBTQ individuals. Looking to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—which was certainly an important victory for our community—it is easy to see the ways that only gender conforming LGBTQ individuals are benefitted by that victory. The military remains a very hostile place for gender non-conforming individuals like myself. As someone who is gender-queer, I could not serve in the military without compromising that identity due to dress codes, residential codes, and other rules.

“If we turn to examining the workplace for LGBTQ individuals, we have undoubtedly made great strides. Fortune 500 companies are now deliberately seeking out LGBTQ individuals as part of diversity initiatives. Yet, once again, this progress means very little for those who are gender non-conforming. I struggle to think of many companies that would hire a man who showed up to his job interview in high heels or a woman with short hair who showed up to her interview wearing a men’s suit.

“I think the other challenge faced by the LGBTQ community is somewhat related to the first. As an LGBTQ community, we are still struggling to remain a community that is racially diverse and embraces multicultural and multilingual communities. I recently began exploring these intersections through one of my classes this past semester where I critically examined the obstacles that LGBTQ refugees seeking asylum face when they arrive in the United States. I started the project examining how LGBTQ refugees are treated by the US government, and ended the project focusing on how LGBTQ refugees are treated by the LGBTQ community itself. What I found was that while the process to apply for asylum is very difficult, it is made even more difficult because local LGBTQ organizations remain inaccessible to LGBTQ asylum-seekers. This is due to the fact that few local LGBTQ organizations provide multilingual resources and few are aware of the issues and challenges faced by LGBTQ migrants.

“Both of these concerns are rooted in a more fundamental challenge that the LGBTQ community faces in the modern age. As an LGBTQ community, we do not spend enough time critically examining the intersections between homophobia, sexism, racism, xenophobia and classism. The challenge before us is to explore the ways that our work can be expanded to incorporate a broader idea of the LGBTQ community. Moreover, the challenge before us as a community is to expand what we see as “our issues” to include issues of immigration, of racism, and of social justice more generally. As a community, we must be in solidarity with other social justice movements and stand against all systems of privilege, not just the ones that disadvantage us.”

Jacob is very correct about the issues facing our movement. As leaders we need to critically examine the direction we are heading, ensuring we are included all people as we move forward. We hope everyone who reads this will think about how they are adding to the positive direction Jacob is challenging all of us head.

As part of the application we ask the applicants to have letters of recommendation written on their behalf. One of these letters was to be from a fellow student leader.

Oliver Wilson, chair of the Duke Council for Collaborative Action, wrote; “Jacob is exceptional because of the depth and intensity of his courage. I say without exaggeration or reservation that Jacob is one of the most courageous people that I have encountered in my entire life. Jacob displays courage everyday through a proud display of his identity and a questioning of gender norms on a campus that desperately needs to be challenged in this fashion. Without fail, Jacob has the courage to stand up for his convictions and beliefs, even when he risks backlash and criticism. Whether it be pushing for gender neutral housing, protesting economic inequality as part of the Occupy movement, or organizing against North Carolina Amendment 1, Jacob has the insight and awareness to understand the intersectionality of all forms of oppression and the importance of coalitions and communities in these struggles.”

In addition to the student leader letter we asked for two letters to come from faculty and staff.

Jaine K. Long, Ph.D., wrote in support of Jacob and later told Campus Pride: "Jacob Tobia was a beacon of light in North Carolina even before he arrived at Duke. Since his arrival on campus he has been a driving force behind several advocacy efforts on campus most notably those dealing with gender identity and expression. Jacob is also the founder and coordinator of Duke Together Against Constitutional Discrimination, a group of Duke students, faculty, staff, and employees working to mobilize the Duke community against writing discrimination into our state's constitution as proposed in amendment one on the May ballot. Jacob's organization and leadership of Duke Together has mobilized the entire Duke community in a way that I have seen no other student accomplish."

Thoughts from the Voice & Action Selection Committee: “What an inspiration,” “Courageous, constantly challenges gender norms, stands up in face of criticism or backlash,” and “Strong goals and intentions.”

We are so proud to be able to recognize Jacob Tobia as one of the 2012 Campus Pride National Voice & Action Leadership Award recipients.

Edited and written by: Christopher Bylone, Voice & Action Selection Committee, Chair in collaboration with Matt Comer, Communications & Program Director.

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