Back at school, 'Inquirer' writer mentors women at LGB Center

After 23 years on a daily deadline as a sportswriter and a TV columnist, Gail Shister has returned to the classroom. Shister, who writes for The Philadelphia Inquirer, is spending a semester-long sabbatical at the University as the Inquirer's Richard Burke fellow. The break has provided time for Shister to enjoy "incredibly stimulating" courses and interact with students at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Center and at The Daily Pennsylvanian. "The kind of reading I did was far from the academia like checkbooks and trade journals," Shister said. "I'm using a part of my brain that I haven't used since college." With a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University and a master's degree from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Shister has been a pioneer in sports writing, becoming the first woman to join the sports department at three different newspapers. "I've always loved finding out things first and telling everybody," she said. "I guess that's a good definition of being a reporter." At the LGBC, Shister facilitates a women's discussion group Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. on topics such as relationships with parents, sexuality and religion. The group is composed of about 20 women -- 50 percent bisexual, 25 percent lesbian and 25 percent still trying to decide their sexual orientation -- and is one of the LGBC's most popular programs. "Queer women's discussion group is the most actively meeting group at the center now -- there's nothing that meets more regularly," LGBC Program Coordinator Gloria Casarez said. "That alone is a big deal." Because there are not very many activities for lesbian and bisexual women in the greater Philadelphia area, the discussion group caters to women from outside the Penn campus as well, according to Casarez. Shister, who did not meet "another out gay human being all throughout college," believes that the group creates a nurturing environment that women need on campus. "They need to understand that being gay does not have to be a big secret," she said, adding that if you are "hiding who you really are, then you are buying into the hateful notion that there's something wrong about you." College sophomore Laurie Eichenbaum said Shister's energetic personality contributes to the success of the group. Eichenbaum feels especially encouraged by the fact that Shister came out before it was "cool to be gay," and was among the first gay women to have a Jewish wedding ceremony. Shister married Penny Jeannechild, an editorial assistant at the Inquirer, three years ago. The two are raising Jeannechild's 12-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who informed her parents at age 7 that she will marry a man. "I'm thinking about starting a support group for parents of heterosexuals," Shister said with a playful grin. Shister's role as a mother and a wife reinforces the idea that sexuality is not the defining aspect of one's character, according to 1997 Bryn Mawr graduate Alison Mott, who regularly attends the women's discussion group. "A lot of people would assume that a lesbian couple would not be structured enough for a child," Mott said. "But [Shister] has a family that's functional and disciplined. I think that's a really good model." The women in Shister's discussion group, as well as those who take advantage of her office hours at the LGBC, say they are encouraged by Shister's belief that "you can have a successful career, a family and be out, and the republic will not fall." At the end of this semester, Shister will give up her backpack and start carrying her briefcase again, returning to her column at the Inquirer. "I have to be a semi-grown-up now, and that's very upsetting to me," she said. But Shister won't leave campus altogether -- she will continue to head the successful discussion group, eager to offer the mentoring she never got in college.

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