The Undergraduate Council (UC) passed several measures at its general meeting last night to condemn homophobia and support discussion of diversity of sexual orientation.

The council voted in favor of creating a task force to "end the practice of allowing a student to change rooms solely because she or he is uncomfortable with the sexual orientation of her or his roommate before making a sincere attempt to live with that person."

The resolution, which passed 53-8 with one abstention, is aimed at advising the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) to change its current practices. The measure was prompted by the UC's discussion of incidents in which roommates of homosexual students had been granted room changes prior to move-in.

David B. Orr '01, who will lead the task force, said he has had a positive experience at Harvard as a gay student, but that more needs to be done to condemn the recent acts of homophobic vandalism.

"We cannot pretend that homophobia does not exist on this campus," said Orr, who is also the Crimson's reader representative. "Action needs to be taken."

John P. Marshall 01 was one of the council members who opposed the resolution, arguing that any problems with rooming during freshman year should be avoided.

"If even one person knows they are going to be very uncomfortable in a rooming situation, I don't see the point in a trial period," Marshall said. "The first part of freshman year is a difficult time already. Any additional problems because of rooming situations should be avoided."

Marshall also said the issue was not "new business" and that it was not appropriate for the council to make a decision on the issue.