Saturday, January 26, 2013
Generation LGBTQIA
In early January, the New York Times ran an article about the "New LGBTQIA Generation."
An interest of mine has always been "concealable" underrepresented students, meaning students whose status cannot be readily identified by looking at them (i.e. sexual orientation, first generation, socioeconomic status, etc.)
The article not only raises awareness about the changing LBGTQ community but also potential impacts on college campuses.
So questions to think about while reading the article are:
1. Why do you think one mainstream "LBGTQ face" gets focused on?
2. What potential impacts do you think this article has on:
a. Campus Climates?
b. Best Practices among Colleges and Universities?
c. Recruitment of these "concealable" students
3. Is higher education putting too much/not enough emphasis on identity?
4. When we ask students to identify themselves are we encompassing both master identities and emergent identities?
The link to the article is below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/fashion/generation-lgbtqia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&
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So many acronyms! I am intrigued by the recent expansion of sexual identity and expression (and the lengthening of acronyms!). I think it is great that so many schools have adapted to serve the needs of LGBTIQQA students.
ReplyDeleteSome colleges have added questions about LGBTIQQA status on their applications. I think this is because they feel that they can target those students with that knowledge. Elmhurst College in Chicago was the first to do that, not Iowa.
It seems that UIUC is a little bit behind other schools, although at least we have the LGBT Resource Center and many ally trainings.
I would also add that ability status is sometimes a "concealable" status.
I agree that it's really great to see more and more universities are becoming more forward thinking and actively providing resources and supporting safe learning environments for LGBTQIA. One of the best things I've done on this campus is take a LGBT ally training through the LGBT Resource Center. One of the many reasons I took the training is because I wanted to work to become more comfortable in my knowledge of gender identity and sexual orientation and to be able to challenge the oppressive behavior of others. I would encourage you all to consider an ally training! For more information: http://studentaffairs.illinois.edu/diversity/lgbt/becomeally.html.
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