Students and faculty were honored at the Small Victories Celebration for increasing the visibility of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community on campus.

About 150 people attended the ceremony Thursday night, sponsored by Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Student Services.

Several individuals and organizations were recognized, including Delta Lambda Phi, a fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, and LGBTA for Christ.

“There is no such thing as a small victory,” said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. “Small victories over time add up to make a large victory.”

He congratulated those present for encouraging an environment of inclusion on campus.

“We’re not at the level we need to be,” Geoffroy said. “We have work to do at Iowa State and everywhere.”

Beth Zemsky, co-chairwoman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force board of directors, was the keynote speaker at the event.

“Social movements are, for the most part, built by small victories,” she said.

Zemsky said that although making progress is difficult as an individual, change is easier to attain for members working as part of a strategic collective. She also stressed that dialogue is the most important ingredient for acceptance.

“Authentic dialogue is not between ideologies and ideas — authentic dialogue happens between people,” Zemsky said. “We live at an incredibly important moment for the LGBT community.”

Zemsky said the LGBT community has never been in the public eye to such a large degree. Television shows and other cultural mediums have acknowledged the LGBT community to an unprecedented degree, she said. Political issues such as gay marriage and the lack of LGBT civil rights are behind the times, Zemsky said.

“In so many ways, our culture is ahead of our politics,” she said.

Seventy to 80 percent of the American public believes gays should have civil rights, Zemsky said. Sixty percent of 18- to 30-year-olds support same-sex marriage, she said.

“We work hard to present ourselves as positive role models,” said Brian Olechnowski, president of Delta Lambda Phi.

He said the ISU chapter of Delta Lambda Phi is the only chapter at any school in the nation that has been approved by an Inter-Fraternity Council.

Olechnowski said they approved Delta Lambda Phi by an overwhelming margin at its Dec. 3 meeting.