Two Object To WSU Mascot In Parade Woman Wears Butch The Cougar Costume At Gay Pride Parade

On this day, Butch the Cougar - Washington State University’s fun-filled and furry mascot - was, well, butch.

The university’s official representative appeared last month in Seattle’s Gay Pride Parade, along with 50 or so other friends and members of the school’s gay, lesbian and bisexual community.

A column and letter in Tuesday’s Summer Evergreen, the student newspaper, suggest not everyone is comfortable with a mascot out of step with the straight-arrow image engendered by football great “Butch” Meeker.

An athletic department administrator Tuesday said Butch’s appearance was in keeping with the practice of lending out cougar costumes for events involving official school groups.

In this case, the student group was the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Allies Program. The costume was worn by an alumna who is a lesbian.

“This is a sanctioned, accepted organization within WSU they’re part of our family,” said Harold Gibson, associate athletic director. “So they’re going to be treated like anyone else.”

After the student newspaper last week ran a photo of Butch at the parade, Wes Taylor, a WSU alumnus, wrote the newspaper to say he was “personally offended” by Butch’s appearance in such an event.

“Would the Gay Pride Parade be an official sanctioned event of the university?” he said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “From what I’ve heard of the other (gay pride) parades around, I know they can get pretty raunchy. And I just don’t want our school mascot being involved.”

“Our friendly mascot should be reserved for university-wide, universally supported events only,” wrote Doug Hughes, the Evergreen opinions editor.

Hughes said the parade is essentially a political event and Butch “should not be allowed at political events of any kind, no matter how benign they may seem.”

Bobbi Bonace, outgoing director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Allies Program, acknowledged the irony in Butch being associated in this case with the word “butch,” a term used to describe a masculine lesbian.

“I’ve heard this in jest lots of times - there’s more than one Butch on campus,” she said.

But she insisted his appearance upheld the school’s spirit.

“WSU is a place that is inclusive and stands behind its definition of diversity,” she said. “That we care about the safety and welfare of students who identify as sexual minorities … and we’re proud of it.”

She said the parade was an apolitical celebration.

“If we offended anybody, that saddens me,” she said. “We didn’t offend anybody at that parade, I’ll tell you that.”

At WSU athletic events, Butch is played by one of two student volunteers. During the parade, the uniform was worn by a WSU graduate and lesbian who did not want her sexuality known publicly, Bonace said. Joining Butch were several heterosexual sorority members who taught marchers the Cougar fight song, she said.

What controversy there was came when the WSU marchers passed by fans of the University of Washington Huskies.

Bonace said she made clear to WSU officials what the uniform was for and agreed when she borrowed it to have its wearer refrain from smoking, drinking and speaking. The WSU admissions office also lent Bonace two WSU banners.

Gibson, the associate athletic director, said the school’s three Butch costumes are used mostly at nonathletic events, often as a recruiting tool. Like Bonace, he said he didn’t view the march as a political function.

The association’s use of the costume has prompted school officials to consider creating a formal policy for how the three costumes are lent out, he said, but only to help prioritize who should get one during busy times.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photo