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Discussion: Equity Concerns Facing LGBTQ+ Students

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Discussion: Equity Concerns Facing LGBTQ+ Students

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1. Consider LGBTQ+ students.  What was most surprising about student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity?

I cannot say that I was surprised when reading through the data concerning LGBTQ+ student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity. However, seeing the numbers of LGBTQ+ youth who had considered or have attempted suicide really brought it home.

2. What socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity did you find most urgent and critical?  Please explain.

The current administration is causing widespread fear. The issues concerning socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity, that LGBTQ+ people already deal with in America was a lot. Now, many people feel that we are going backwards, and we are. In my experience, students who I know and see regularly are requesting Mental Health support at a higher level than I remember in the past. I feel that there are many reasons behind this, the current climate as well as accessibility to care. I believe that one of the positive reasons is that Sierra College has implemented more readily available and free Mental Health services, like TimelyCare 24/7, to both students and employees.

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1. Consider LGBTQ+ students.  What was most surprising about student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity? The date was was not surprising. The disproportionate mental health challenges they face have a negative impact on their learning, focus and success.

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What socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity did you find most urgent and critical?  Please explain. The most urgent issue is that 86.3 % of LGBTQ has experienced harassments or assault based on their personal characteristics. Every student has the right to be in a safe environment. Comprehensive supportive policies are urgently needed to remove hostility and create a safe learning environment for everyone.

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Consider LGBTQ+ students.  What was most surprising about student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity?

Like others here, the "surprising" element missed me due to prior training. But the numbers that stood out had to do with suicidal ideation - it's so ubiquitous for this population.

What socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity did you find most urgent and critical?  Please explain.

Well, we're living in a time of unprecedented aggression towards the LGBTQI community (trans people in particular) under the second Trump administration. DEI efforts might have been challenged ideologically in the past, but we're in a whole new era where the ideology of this administration is backed up by a host of punitive measures towards institutions who would seek to keep these programs and efforts strong, active, visible. Given the clear links established here between robust, visible institutional support for LGBTQI stakeholders and better mental health of individuals in LGBTQI community, I think we know what we can expect to see with regard to those statistics in the LGBTQI community as a result. So yes, urgent, critical, frustrating, helpless.

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Consider LGBTQ+ students.  What was most surprising about student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity?

I wasn't surprised overall by the statistics. It was interesting looking at the headcount at sierra for non-straight & trans students. It made me wonder if there are similar metrics for faculty and staff.

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What socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity did you find most urgent and critical?  Please explain.

The material circumstances ( money + housing) are the most urgent, since they flow downstream into a lot of the other issues. Students with housing / money insecurity will certainly have less attention to their classes / etc, leading to some of the educational outcomes.

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Consider LGBTQ+ students.  What was most surprising about student success, learning, retention, and educational inequity?

I wasn't surprised by any of the numbers as I am aware of the educational inequities. I am just saddened by the statistics.

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What socioeconomic, legislative, or mental health disparity did you find most urgent and critical?  Please explain.

I feel that the disparity's in income and housing are so concerning. Also, the high level of mental health issues and thoughts of suicide are so concerning. As a society we need to do more to support and protect our LGBTQ community.

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What stood out to me most was the data for online students. As a dual enrollment and Sierra College teacher I see how many LGBTQIA+ students come to our fully online program because they are dealing with so many aspects of not feeling accepted by their peers or teachers in some cases. I actually copied some of the GLESN data to share with my colleagues to remind us of who our students are and why they come to our school.

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We often hear concerns about individuals feeling unsafe using bathrooms that are accessible to LGBTQ individuals due to fears that "people pretend to be women to enter women's bathrooms." However, something that stood out to me in the report was that about 40% of LGBTQ students also feel unsafe in school bathrooms and locker rooms. While their fear may stem from bullying, these spaces are also away from the public eye, making them vulnerable to physical harm in these confined areas.

I also looked at the data for Sierra College and noticed an interesting trend: for "non-straight" students, there is a slight GPA improvement throughout the term, whereas for transgender students, GPA peaks and then declines. What is causing this peak, and how can we use it to help prevent the decline? That said, I found the Term GPA graphs difficult to interpret—the axes were not labeled clearly, and it was hard to determine when exactly the peak occurs during the semester. Additionally, I was wondering, who is classified as "not straight"?

When I explored the interactive map, I was shocked to see the data on discrimination in Child Welfare Services. Many states have no protections in place, and even worse, eight states actively allow agencies to discriminate against potential parents. This was incredibly concerning to see...

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I was shocked at the disparity in income and housing for LGBT compared to non-LGBT. This helps to illustrate heterosexual privilege and emphasizes the economic connections to social values.