How can I help make college a better place for LGBTQ+ students?

Hi everyone,

First of all, hopefully this is the right area for this!!

I’m a gay man employed at an unnamed university in the United States. I just graduated with my bachelor’s degree in May and a few weeks ago got hired as the coordinator of our Pride Center, which is only a 20 hour a week position or so. I’m also the first person at this university getting paid to work in the Pride Center; only interns have existed for the space in the past. As you may figure, there is a lot more to do than 20 hours a week allows for!

I have many items on my to-do list that I need to accomplish, but I’m also trying my best to really gain an understanding of what might help improve the campus climate for LGBTQ+ folks from where it is now. 90% of the people who use our Pride Center, which is a pretty small space, are part of the LGBTQ+ club on campus (which, by the way, is about 90% female-identified. I’m looking for ways to make the Pride Center more inviting to more people, but at the same time I also know that there are plenty of people in the closet who won’t want to use the Pride Center or go to programs out of concern for their presence potentially outing them. I also don’t want the LGBTQ+ club to feel that their space that they have become comfortable with is being invaded, either. There are definitely plenty of people on this campus who are closeted, perhaps especially male-identified students.

For those of you who are in college or recently graduated from college, I’m interested in learning what resources, if any, you wish your college provided to make it easier to be an LGBTQ+, or closeted, student. Programs? Small group sessions? Other things? Was there anything that you were glad that you had access to? And if you felt that there wasn’t a supportive LGBTQ+ environment on your campus, what are some strategies you used (such as joining other groups) to get around that? Hopefully what I’m trying to ask here makes sense; let me know if I can clarify.

Thanks so much for your input! Looking forward to hearing of your experiences, and I’ll do my best to take your ideas & implement based on what I’m capable of.