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...

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

1. 2

   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.

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.

1. 2

   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.

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.

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.