American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU is America's premier civil liberties organization, committed to ensuring every American's right to personal freedom is not infringed. Founded in 1925, the ACLU works on a number of issues, including LGBTQ Rights, Women's Rights, Reproductive Freedom, Prisoners' Rights, and more.
Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.
I AM: Trans People Speak is a project to raise awareness about the diversity that exists within transgender communities. It gives a voice to transgender individuals, as well as their families, friends, and allies. It is a project of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
An affiliate of the American Bar Association, the LGBTQ+ Bar promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity. With over 1700 members, it is the largest LGBTQ+ Bar and Ally Lawyer association in the United States.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
NCLR is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education.
National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality was founded in 2003 by transgender activists who recognized the urgent need for policy change to advance transgender equality. It advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
The National LGBTQ Task Force is an activist organization committed to advancing full freedom, justice, and equality for LGBTQ people.
The Transgender Law Center is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Founded in 2002, it has grown into the largest trans-specific, trans-led organization in the United States. Their advocacy and precedent-setting litigation victories—in areas including employment, prison conditions, education, immigration, and healthcare—protect and advance the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people across the country.
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Founded in 2003, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to end discrimination and achieve equality for transgender people, particularly those in our most vulnerable communities. Their strategies include pathbreaking trans rights cases and "friend of the court" briefs regarding the key issues of employment, health care, education, and public accommodations.
This visual essay by Meg Metcalf at the Library of Congress provides an overview of Pride marches in America.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Studies
This research guide from UCLA Library provides an overview of books, articles, websites, and more related to LGBTQ studies.
LGBT Legal Materials: After Obergefell
This research guide from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is designed to aid members of the LGBT community and those researching legal issues specific to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
This research guide from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Library identifies resources related to LGBTQ legal issues.
LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide
This research guide serves as an introduction into the excellent collection of LGBTQ+ resources available at the Library of Congress.
This research guide from Northeastern University Library provides online and print resources on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and queer people, gender expression, and sexual identity.
From Yale University, this research guide provides resources on LGBTQIA studies.
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is the leading research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. They conduct rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. The Institute disseminates its research to policymakers, judges, the media, and other stakeholders to ensure that decisions impacting the lives of millions of LGBT people and families are based on data and facts.
LGBTQ students have a significant presence on college campuses. In 2018, an Association of American Universities survey of over 180,000 university students found that 16.9% of students identify as non-heterosexual. While many colleges try to make their campuses welcoming to LGBTQ students, their success rate varies. If you’re a prospective college student who identifies as LGBTQ+, it’s important that you research schools to make sure they’ve created a supportive environment. In this guide, you’ll learn how to research colleges and review additional topics such as the unique challenges LGBTQ students face and the resources and legal rights available to them.
Before you apply to a school, be sure to research the nine points below. Much of your research can begin with college websites, but if you’re strongly considering a campus, we recommend consulting your high school counselors, the college’s admissions office, and current students in addition to reviewing their college website.
Tip: One of the best resources to begin the college search is Campus Pride, as it provides a one-to-five star index for LGBTQ-friendly college campuses, and dates for local college fairs. You can sort by U.S. region, specific school, type of institution and even by sport. -Deanna McGinity, Independent Educational Consultant
When you visit a college campus, do you notice a strong visual presence of LGBTQ student events and clubs? An LGBTQ-friendly school should have fliers and notices advertising LGBTQ+ events, clubs, and activities. For your online research, look up the school’s Campus Pride Index profile. Each school has an “LGBTQ Student Life” section, which indicates whether the college regularly plans LGBTQ social activities.
Campus Pride Index’s “LGBTQ Student Life” section also indicates whether the school has an LGBTQ+ student organization. The school’s website should help you find more details about these organizations. In addition to checking if such organizations exist, we recommend you check how active they are. If their social media account gets a lot of engagement and their calendar is packed with upcoming events, that’s a good indication of the campus’s overall LGBTQ-friendless.
There are hundreds of LGBTQ student centers across the country, and these facilities provide valuable services for dealing with the challenges that LGBTQ students often face. These centers are most often led by full-time professionals who work directly with LGBTQ students. To see if a campus has a resource center, you can check the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professional’s LGBT Support Services Map.
Confirm that the college’s non-discrimination statement is inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. You should also be able to self-identify your sexual orientation and gender identity on admission applications and post-enrollment forms.
Ensure that the college makes it easy to indicate your gender identity and the chosen name you want to use on campus. Studies have shown that supporting chosen names is crucial to affirming gender identity and reducing depressive symptoms, especially among transgender students.
Another helpful Campus Pride Index resource is their list of colleges and universities that provide gender-inclusive housing. Gender-inclusive bathrooms is another important thing to look for while visiting a campus — a 2018 survey of 500 transgender and gender-nonconforming students found that only 45% of institutions offered such facilities in campus buildings.
Does the school offer majors such as gender studies, LGBTQ studies, or human sexuality? If not, these subjects may be available as concentrations for other majors. Even if you plan on majoring in something else, this is another factor that reflects the campus’s overall culture of acceptance.
Yet another sign that a school is LGBTQ-friendly is whether or not they’ve hired LGBTQ faculty. Institutions such as UC Berkeley, Emory University, George Mason University, and the University of Maryland, have published “out lists” that their LGBTQ staff and faculty can volunteer to join.
Violence is an issue that disproportionately affects the LGBTQ+ community. Check for reports on crimes against LGBTQ students, and confirm that there are a sufficient number of security offices and blue light emergency phones on campus. Furthermore, students who don’t plan to live on campus should look for local resources that aren’t affiliated with the school. CenterLink provides a map of over 500 LGBTQ+ community centers that you can use to find such support.
Knowing more about some of the challenges facing LGBTQ college students can help you evaluate schools based on how hard they work to address those issues. Compared to cisgender heterosexual college students, LGBTQ students are disproportionally affected by the following issues:
According to GLSEN’s 2019 National School Climate Survey, 68.7% of LGBTQ students have experienced verbal harassment (name calling and threatening language), 25.7% have experienced physical harassment (being pushed or shoved), and 11% have been physically assaulted (getting punched, kicked, or injured with a weapon) because of their sexual orientation.
LGBTQ students also face housing discrimination. A 2017 Urban Institute report, based on over 2,000 paired tests, found that housing providers were less likely to schedule an appointment with gay men than heterosexual men. And when providers did meet with gay men, they quoted yearly rent costs that were $272 higher on average. The report also found that transgender people were less likely to be told about available rentals than cisgender people.
Harassment, violence, and discrimination often leads to conditions such as anxiety and depression. A Human Rights Campaign survey, conducted from 2016 to 2017, found that 28% of LGBTQ youth (including 40% of transgender youth) often felt depressed either most or all of the past 30 days — only 12% of non-LGBTQ youth felt depressed as frequently during the same period.
Some LGBTQ students who come out are disowned by their families. This makes it difficult to access financial resources such as scholarships, grants, and loans, as they often require a parent’s signature. A lack of support from family and the broader community also makes it hard for LGBTQ students to deal with the other challenges described above. Many college campuses provide an LGBTQ student center to help students through these challenges.
Depending on the colleges you’re applying to, you may want to disclose your sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to schools that are LGBTQ-friendly but withhold this information from those that are less so. If you’re uncomfortable documenting your status in writing because you haven’t come out to your family or for any other reason, you can consider disclosing that information regarding your application with an admissions officer over the phone or in person instead.
Tip: Your parents don’t need to read every part of your application, especially if you’re working with a school counselor, and admission advisors won’t report back to your family. You can always consider addressing your identity in different areas of your application, such as your personal statement and supplemental essays. -Deanna McGinity, Independent Educational Consultant
There are many ways that colleges can support LGBTQ students. For example, LGBTQ student centers often offer services such as:
If a school doesn’t have an LGBTQ student center on campus, you should still be able to access similar services through their general student center facilities. There may be off-campus resources with similar services as well.
There are some aspects of the college experience, such as Greek life and athletics, that have historically struggled with welcoming LGBTQ students. If you’re considering becoming involved in these areas, you should first consult with school officials and current students to get a sense of what the culture is like. You should also be aware that there are fraternities and sororities, such as Delta Lambda Phi and Gamma Rho Lambda, that were created specifically for LGBTQ students and progressive allies. LGBTQ college-bound athletes should consult additional resources like the Athletic Equality Index to see how campuses are scored based on their LGBTQ+ inclusion policies and practices.
If you run into any issues due to your sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression while attending college, be sure to report the incident to one of your school’s counselors. Some colleges even have licensed attorneys on staff that can provide you with legal advice and representation. And if you are ever concerned for your safety, you should immediately contact campus security personnel or the police. If the police in your community do not feel like a safe option, consider reaching out to your campus’s student crisis resources, which may include your school’s counseling center to reach the on-call counselor.
Whether or not your college is LGBTQ-friendly, you have rights that safeguard your sexual orientation and gender identity. Below are some of the federal laws that protect LGBTQ students in the U.S.:
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans sex-based discrimination at colleges that receive federal funding. This provides LGBTQ students with equal access to admissions, housing, athletics, financial assistance, etc. If you experience a Title IX violation while attending college, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. Any college receiving federal funds can be held responsible for monetary damages if they knowingly ignored sexual harassment or discrimination, even if the act was committed by a student rather than a staff member.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, partially named after a gay man who was killed while he was a student at the University of Wyoming, expanded the definition of hate crimes to include bias against the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Depending on where the campus is located, there may also be state-level laws that protect you from discrimination. The Movement Enhancement Project’s interactive map provides an excellent state-by-state breakdown of the anti-discrimnation policies in each state.
Furthermore, students have a first amendment right to vocally support LGBTQ equality; wear clothing, hang posters, or distribute leaflets that promote LGBTQ statements; and publish articles that address LGBTQ issues.
You should be aware that dozens of colleges have requested exemptions from Title IX due to their adherence to a religious doctrine or religion-based moral code. A 2018 Movement Enhancement Project study found that 79 institutions have been granted such exemptions, meaning they can legally discriminate against LGBTQ students and still receive federal funds.
If you wish to attend one of these institutions, you should check out Safety Net — this nonprofit fosters communication between LGBTQ staff, students, and alumni at over 75 evangelical Christian colleges. You can also use Safety Net to find information on gay-straight alliances that are affiliated with your school, or they can help you start a gay-straight alliance group at your school if none currently exist.
There are certainly some advantages to taking classes online rather than in-person. Indeed, this might be your only option if you already have a busy schedule due to work or family commitments. And even if you have an open schedule, an online college education saves you from the time, expense, and general inconvenience of a regular commute.
But if you attend college remotely, you won’t have access to all the on-campus LGBTQ resources that many colleges provide for their students. Below, we’ll go over how you can compensate for this lack of on-campus resources and other advice for online LGBTQ students.
Although you won’t be attending classes in person, telecommuting technology such as Zoom is often used to facilitate live lectures and face-to-face interactions in a virtual environment. So it’s important for online courses to be LGBTQ-friendly, as harassment is still quite possible in this setting.
You’ll also want to make sure that the school does not have a history of discriminating against LGBTQ people in areas such as hiring, admissions, housing, and financial aid. In general, you should look for the same things that you would when evaluating a college’s in-person experience: Did the college request an exemption from Title IX? Do they have robust anti-discrimination policies? Is there an “out list” that shows a large share of the college’s faculty are LGBTQ themselves?
There are many scholarships and grants available specifically for LGBTQ students, and these funds can generally be applied to online tuition and fees. The Human Rights Campaign maintains a database of scholarships, fellowships, and grants that are available to LGBTQ students. Among the most sought-after LGBTQ awards are:
Some colleges offer counseling services over the phone or via a teleconferencing app. If you’re not able to access your college’s counseling services remotely, another option is to contact The Trevor Project or Trans Lifeline, which have trained counselors available 24/7.
You could also search for an LGBTQ resource center at your town’s nearest college or university. Even if you’re an online student enrolled at another institution, their staff will likely be welcoming and help you find and utilize community resources.
Check if your school offers virtual LGBTQ clubs or events for online students. The Trevor Project can also be of help here, as they offer a social networking site in addition to their 24/7 hotline that’s staffed with trained counselors.
From educational resources to financial aid to employment opportunities, there are a variety of nationwide programs that support LGBTQ students. In addition to the groups that have already been mentioned in this guide, the following organizations also offer support:
Founded in 1985 by a small group of journalists and writers, GLAAD is dedicated to fighting defamatory coverage of LGBTQ people in news and entertainment. They also offer grants to LGBTQ youth through their Rising Star Program.
The LEAGUE Foundation provides financial aid to LGBTQ high school seniors who are entering their first year of post-secondary education. Since 1996, they have awarded a total of $317,500 to 144 recipients. To qualify for this scholarship, you must have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, a substantial record of community service, and acceptance to an accredited U.S. college or university.
The Gamma Mu Foundation awards scholarships and grants to LGBTQ students who live in rural areas and other underserved populations in the U.S. There are no GPA or community service requirements — you just need to have completed high school and be under 35 years old. Overall, the Gamma Mu Foundation has awarded over $2 million to LGBTQ students.
Founded in 1985, the Pride Foundation is another organization that offers scholarships and grants to LGBTQ students. With just one application, you can see whether you qualify for any of their 60+ scholarship funds — and if you live in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington, there’s a good chance that you will. And if you’re interested in a career in nonprofit management or philanthropy, you should check out the Pride Foundation’s internship program as well.
This is an excellent resource for when you’re wrapping up your education and getting ready to join the workforce. Whether you’re still in school or just graduated, Out for Work can assist you with finding jobs and internships.
The world’s largest online asexual community, AVEN provides asexual students with educational materials as well as a highly active community forum.
Josh Kinchen, M.Ed. – Director of LGBTQ+ Resources Center at George Mason University
College can be an incredible, transformative experience for most LGBTQ students. This is especially true, if they attend a college or university that has devoted time, energy, and resources into creating a campus culture where all students, inclusive of their intersectional identities can show up and thrive as their full, authentic selves. Oftentimes it’s not Ivy League schools, highly selective private colleges, or flagship state universities that have the most robust resources for LGBTQ+ students. Using resources like the Campus Pride Index to see which schools have the most intentional focus on LGBTQ policies and practices can guide choices about college selection.
Josh KinchenM.Ed.
Josh Kinchen is a university LGBTQ resource center director at George Mason University, nationally published researcher, and a United States Marine Corps veteran. His mission is to create affirming, healing campus communities where students can be their full, authentic, selves in all aspects of their intersectional identities.
Deanna McGinitySTAR College Prep
Deanna is an educational counselor and founder of STAR College Prep, which helps high school students and their parents navigate the college application process. She works with students at the beginning of their journey searching for colleges all the way through the process of finding scholarships and receiving acceptance letters. She received a certificate in College Counseling with distinction from UCLA, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a Master’s of Public Administration from Arizona State University.