This presentation is premised on a research study that was conducted with a group of secondary teachers. The study examined how teachers grappled with issues surrounding homophobia and heterosexism in their schools. For the purpose of this presentation, some of the findings from this study have been applied to the college campus. Specifically, the…

For a decade, St. Cloud State University has worked to change a broad climate of intolerance that had pervaded the campus of the second-largest university in Minnesota. It has struggled for years to overcome entrenched racism on campus and in the surrounding community. Minority enrollment and faculty of color have increased. The provost is Indian…

The environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, staff, and faculty on college campuses has certainly improved over the last generation, but recent dramatic episodes confirm the continuing need for vigilance and reform. Students remain the constituency most vulnerable to the effects of entrenched bigotry: the harassment…

In recent years, many universities across the United States have instituted "ally" programs that have been designed to promote awareness and support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) persons. While such ally programs have emerged at many colleges and are certainly publicly visible, little empirical…

Data from 2 studies revealed that ethnic and sexual minority clients experienced greater psychological distress on multiple dimensions than did European American or heterosexual clients, respectively, as did ethnic and sexual minority students who were not clients. Among sexual minority students, ethnicity was not an added source of distress.…

The authors describe a study that was conducted to provide better understanding of eating and body image concerns among clients in university counseling centers. First, they explored the prevalence of such concerns among stereotype-congruent (White, heterosexual, female) and stereotype-incongruent groups (e.g., ethnic/sexual minorities, men).…

Sixteen scholarly papers and twenty abstracts comprise the content of the eighteenth annual Brick & Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the conference, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship.…

How might teachers help students investigate the relationship between gender and homophobia? This article describes an exercise that uses fingernail polish to do just that. The authors uses anecdotal evidence to describe the exercise in which students pair with someone of the opposite gender and paint each other's fingernails. Additionally, the…

Although most research investigating diversity courses focuses on attitudes toward racial minorities and women, these courses may also influence student attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. The current study assessed student awareness of heterosexual privilege, prejudice against lesbians and gay men, and support for same-sex marriage. Students…

College students are at high risk of experiencing serious problems related to physical and social health issues that include binge drinking, sexual assault, and contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Despite research reporting that many of these incidents co-occur on campuses, university prevention programs have failed to present the…

Research shows that introductory courses in college provide an opportunity to invoke transformative learning, enhance students' ability to take the role of the "other," and encourage an authentic learning experience (Mezirow 1997). Few studies, however, have examined transformative approaches wherein students examine heterosexist ideologies. This…

This study explores the experiences and support needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people living in Sussex (UK), and the training needs of practitioners working with LGBTQ young people. The aims were to explore the experiences of young people including bullying, "coming out," social service and…

Bullying is a serious problem in contemporary American society. Many adults are now suffering from bullying, which has conventionally been thought of as a childhood behavior. While a general form of bullying has been focused on by contemporary scholars, specific types of bullying (racist bullying and homophobic bullying) have not well been…

Objective: To estimate and compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity among self-identified lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual college age women. Methods: A secondary analysis of the Spring 2006 National College Health Assessment was conducted with 31,500 female college students (aged 18 to 25 years) to compare body mass index (calculated…

Key scholars have studied campus climate, and often these climate studies are done through the lens of race and racial issues on campus. A few studies have explored the interaction between campus climate and sexual and gender minority students. However, those studies, like the climate studies through a racial lens, found that lesbian, gay,…