PROFILES IN DIVERSITY
LGBTQ STUDENTS H
ow many LGBT students are currently involved in higher education? Which discipline has the most LGBT students? How many LGBT
BECOMING AN ALLY
candidates are seeking their bachelors, or doctorate? Most searches for answers to these questions will turn up empty; put simply, these statistics are few and far between. Many Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Question- ing students aren’t ready or willing to identify themselves on the rare occasion that colleges do attempt to collect information. And because of this, the LGBTQ population on campuses often goes unnoticed.
see that there is no standard response. LGBTQ students come from a variety of backgrounds, and have a wide spectrum of goals and personalities –just like any other student. Tere are several groups of LGBTQ students that you’ll find on college campuses, according to Candace Gingrich-Jones, Associate Director, Youth and Campus Outreach at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Some are freshmen starting college that have
by Rachel Wiley
PHOTO COURTESY
HRC.ORG In my search to find the answers to these questions
and learn more about the LGBTQ population on cam- puses in this issue’s Profiles in Diversity, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Candace Gin- grich-Jones. Around the same time that her brother, Rep. Newt Gingrich, was elected House Speaker, Ging- rich-Jones became an activist in the gay rights community. The author of “The Accidental Activist,” Gingrich-Jones has been profiled in several other popular media outlets, as well as making appearances on Good Morning Ameri- ca, the Queen Latifah Show, and Friends (“The One with the Lesbian Wedding”). Now, Gingrich-Jones serves as the Associate Director for the Human Rights Campaign’s Youth and Campus Outreach Program, and is a key player in helping provide the tools and resources to institu- tions nationwide in order to promote equality and create LGBTQ-friendly campuses.
WHO IS THE LGBTQ STUDENT? Ask the question “who is the LGBTQ student?” and you’ll
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been out for years, are ready to come to campus already out and for the most part, are comfortable with them- selves; there’s the opposite group of students that weren’t out prior to college, but upon arriving at college, find themselves able to be open and honest with whom they are; and then there is every shade in between–students who were out in high school, but feel that things would be easier or safer back in the closet in college; students who weren’t out prior to college, and still aren’t ready to come out; and other combinations therein. Really, there’s no universal experience for any student, and an LGBTQ student is no exception.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, 56 per-
cent of LGBT youth are out to their immediate family; 25 percent are out to their extended family. What does this mean for colleges? If only 25 percent of LGBTQ youth surveyed were out to their extended families, how many of those would be ready and willing to identify themselves at school? In 2011, Elmhurst College became the first college in the country to ask an optional question pertaining to an applicant’s sexual orientation. Tis led
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