Majority of queer people would agree that they “always knew” they were different, yet, for many, the process of “coming out” does not occur until college (in fact this is quite common). This might be because many college campuses are viewed as “liberal meccas,” especially in conservative parts of the country (where the breadth of a college campus holds a dominating influence over the attitude of the local area).
Even more convincingly, it might be that students who attend college experience shifts in their cultural, political, intellectual, and social values (due to the move away from parental influence at home and the new, potentially, more diverse and liberal environment). These shifts are actually more dramatically influenced by the attitudes of their non-queer classmates.
We Have An Attitude Problem.
Heterosexism can be defined as “the societal oppression of the LGBT community and the systemic advantage based on heterosexual or traditional gender identity.” While there are certain parts of the country that are making great strides to combat this prejudice, along with misogynism and other forms of prejudice, many parts of the country are still hostile environments for queer students.
For example, we live in a country where every four in ten queer youth say the community in which they live is not accepting of LGBTQ people. And less than ten years ago as little as twenty-one states had anti-discrimination laws that included sexual orientation, while over fifty percent of Americans believed that same-sex relations were always wrong and just under fifty percent opposed same-sex marriage.
​
Heterosexism (and arguably prejudice in general) is proven to be transferred intergenerationally, and students bring this prejudice with them to campuses. In a research study on college students’ attitudes on the subject, parental disapproval was arguably the strongest influencer for negative opinions towards LGBTQ students.
In addition, this study also found that the strongest negative reactions to queer peers was from non-queer peers of the same sex (women generally held more negative views of lesbians, while men generally held more negative views of gay men). This supports the theory that non-queer students fear unwanted sexual advances from their queer classmates (thus implicitly vilifying them) while men favored lesbians for their erotic appeal, and women gay men because of their non-threatening nature.
​
​
Forming New Opinions.
One of the strongest influencers for positive opinions toward LGBTQ students is having LGBTQ affiliations. To extrapolate, students who are exposed to queer classmates vilify them less.
But how can colleges encourage non-queer students to affiliate with their queer classmates?
​
The answer may be in LGBTQ student organizations. Student groups are beneficial because, in addition to being “key resources for LGBT students, they provide social support and opportunities for activism. In fact, the presence of student groups has been linked to better college climates and lower rates of LGBT victimization.” In short, they offer queer students visibility and visibility is incredibly important for marginalized groups.
​
Visibility is especially important because feelings of isolation and depression are not uncommon within the LGBTQ community. In fact, this community has a higher than average suicide rate, the majority of attempts being at age twenty—the prime of college years. Therefore it makes total sense for colleges to embrace systematic support of their queer students.
Queer At College.
Forging Identity.
Queer youth understand they are different because their sexual behaviors (actions, desires, fantasies, etc.) break away from the norms of heterosexuals’.
When individuals violate compulsory heterosexuality this can go unnoticed (queer people who read as “hetero” passing” but notice different “feelings” than their heterosexual peers), however, majority of queer people violate the norms of hetero behavior in a way that marks and others them (i.e. girls who aren’t “feminine enough,” and boys who aren't “masculine enough”). This can be a
LGBTQ+ Allyship.
fountainhead of major distress for youth, since those in the queer community who are marked, most likely have this happen quite early in their adolescence.
Whether marked or unmarked, “heterosexual persons are interpreted to be normal and morally superior to same-sex or bi-sex oriented individuals, not just by heterosexual individuals themselves, but by non-heterosexual people as well who then understand their sexuality as abnormal.” Yet, the process of identification gives queer people the means to embrace this abnormality.
In it’s most essential understanding, queer identity (or sexual identity at large) comprises of sexual behavior, sexual selfhood, and sexual socialization. Yet, this doesn’t mean that queer people have to have sex to be queer. Rather, sexuality can be “understood [as] a socialized behavior that is constructed through interaction in the social world”. In fact, sexual identity is often more pragmatic than romantic; for queer people, identity is how they understand themselves in a hetero-centered world.
What Is Queer Identity?
In summary, “the negotiating of sexual identity is deeply influenced by the context of young people’s social and cultural circles,” this includes their schools, friends, families, communities, and beyond.
For those who do not identify within the queer family, there is still room for you at the table.
​
An “ally” can be defined as, “[a] member of dominant social groups (e.g., men, whites, heterosexuals) who [is] working to end the system of oppression that gives them greater privilege and power based upon [his or her] social group membership.”
Allies need not feel that LGBTQ issues are the most important issues to them, or even that they relate to them. In fact, successful confrontations to heterosexism majorly stem from essential moral virtues such as civil rights and patriotism. In other words, you do not need to be related to or best friends with a queer person to be their ally. All you need is awareness and compassion.
​
Queer identity matters more than ever, and queer students need support from each other, their non-queer peers, and their institutions.
Context
