College campuses can provide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual and ally (LGBTQA+) students an outlet to find or become more comfortable with their identities and sexual orientation, especially if they’re from households with unaccepting family members.
However, the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down colleges and universities across the country, has forced those same students to go back into the closet after returning to their hometowns.
“For LGBTQA+ people in particular, they get a lot of their support from the community itself,” says Dr. Pat Tetreault, the founding director of the LGBTQA+ Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). “So not being able to connect, I think that’s just a challenge for everybody.”
Those students living in unsupportive households are less likely to access LGBTQA+ specific resources offered by their institutions online, according to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)’s LGBT Resource Center director Leslie K. Morrow. For example, students might not feel comfortable talking on the phone to on-campus support systems due to fear of being overheard by family members or being concerned about their internet history being monitored.
“Clearly, as great as technology is, there are some things that you just can’t substitute with regards to in-person interaction,” says Morrow.
To support students in unsafe home environments, Andy Cofino, director of the LGBT Campus Resource Center at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), says it takes the help of an entire campus.
Resources need to be highlighted in a transparent way and campus organizations should include the experiences of LGBTQA+ students in their own messaging outlets to reach a broader audience.
