With nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills being heard in state capitols nationwide, college-bound students may seek campuses in more accepting communities to find peers and politics that embrace their identities.
Jorge Valencia
Executive Director and CEO, Point Foundation
“Queer colleagues of mine, all native Texans like me, have been evacuating the state as legislation and attitudes become more hostile,” said Fox Ostrowski-Guevara (they/he), a University of Texas student in Austin. “My applications to graduate schools on the East and West coasts, hopefully, will be my ticket to flee. I am counting on it.”
Unfortunately, when they do have the opportunity to leave their unsupportive communities, LGBTQ+ students often face continued problems on campus.
In a collaborative report with the Williams Institute, the nonprofit Point Foundation found that LGBTQ+ students are twice as likely to experience unfair treatment from administrators and staff. It doesn’t stop there; LGBTQ+ students are also three times more likely to experience poor mental health and have $14,500 more in loans on average than their non-LGBTQ+ peers.
This is why for more than two decades, Point Foundation has been supporting LGBTQ+ students with scholarships, leadership programming, mentorship, and community.
Time for action
For many years, LGBTQ+ students have had increasing financial need, as indicated by the avalanche of applications we receive each year. With legislatures stripping LGBTQ+ people of our rights and creating an atmosphere of fear, assisting LGBTQ+ students both financially and with a supportive community will become even more vital.
As anti-LGBTQ+ bills amass, now is the time to support LGBTQ+ students and youth. The LGBTQ+ students in classrooms today are the leaders who will steward a more accepting, equal society in the future.
This Pride, and throughout the year, advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, vote rainbow, and show up for LGBTQ+ people. It will take the effort of the nation to regain rights LGBTQ+ people lost in the past year. To this end, Point Foundation created this resource to advocate for LGBTQ+ students, and a list of things LGBTQ+ students said they would like to see change on campus.
