“We don’t have any of those students.”
The privilege and ignorance that accompanies this statement is dumbfounding. The notion that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth do not exist on a college campus demonstrates real prejudice. And the fact that these words, as well as the biased belief behind it, are still present in the action (or inaction) of faculty, staff and administrators on college campuses across the country is even more disturbing.
As the executive director and founder of Campus Pride, the nation’s leading nonprofit advocating for LGBT students on college and university campuses, I have witnessed firsthand both the progress made by and challenges facing people striving for LGBT inclusion in higher education for the last 20 years. I have also seen how progress has been limited by factors such as political climate, financial resources, bigoted religious teachings, region of the country, institutional commitment and ultimately campus officials who lack understanding and are unwilling to recognize LGBT youth as part of the community.
During the early ’90s, when I went to college in Kansas, I knew all about being invisible and how isolating it was to come out as a gay man. It felt like my whole world was going to end, and yet I found a sense of liberation in the fear. I was lucky in that I had friends and fraternity brothers to stand beside me, as I grappled with my sexuality in those early days.
There were also a few key staff and faculty members who recognized that their job should be to support gay students, similar to how they might support other student populations. As a result of LGBT students coming out in the ’90s, my alma mater was among the first in the state of Kansas to have a nondiscrimination statement that included “sexual orientation” as a protected class. We were also among the early “Safe Zone” programs to create safe spaces for LGBT students. Indeed, I was fortunate.
Today the bulk of the work is being carried out by ‘out’ LGBT students, faculty and staff, who are responsible for their own safety. These individuals often lack resources and are doing the work in addition to their jobs and/or as volunteers.
Some institutions are beginning to pay for LGBT support staff. However, there are currently only 229 campuses that have a dedicated office or resource center for LGBT students, with full-time or part-time paid staff members. And, when it comes to LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination clauses, only 26 percent of campuses nationally prohibit discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and less than 16 percent include “gender identity and expression.”
