LGBTQ

In a commentary published Friday, October 16, a group of scholars from Lehigh University and Ohio State University highlight the importance of opening and maintaining LGBTQ+ resource centers on college campuses, offering greater support for LGBTQ+ students during the pandemic, which can be a time of heightened anxiety and depression. "LGBTQ+ campus resource centers provide essential services for college and university communities and are increasingly necessary in light of the ongoing and reverberating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic," wrote the scholars.

Scholars from Lehigh and Ohio State University argue that LGBTQ+ college and university campus resource centers are essential to the health, well-being and academic achievement of LGBTQ+ students. “Why LGBTQ+ Campus Resource Centers are Essential” has been published by Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, and is authored by Chelsea Gilbert, PhD student in Educational Studies at Ohio State University; Nicole L.

Nicole ‘Nic’ Johnson, PhD, started as a researcher investigating violence against women and through this work noticed a trend  –  sexual identity continuously arose as a “confounding variable.” Researchers frequently controlled for sexual identity, essentially erasing it from the research and moved on without further consideration. As a queer woman and survivor herself, Johnson began to delve into this recurrent and ignored aspect. This led to the creation of The Resistance Lab and the refocus of her research by acknowledging sexuality rather than controlling for it.