It’s hard to expect much in terms of inclusivity and support from an institution that, in the statement on inclusiveness and sexual orientation, claims to condemn homophobic behavior and suggests that homosexuality is “morally wrong” in the same breath. Despite this, it seemed that the LGBTQ+ community had made a lot of progress towards acknowledgement and acceptance on campus over the past several years. TEDA and the Core Council were started, visibility day has become a yearly tradition, and TEDA hosts a yearly panel for LGBTQ+ students to talk about their experiences on and off campus. There have also been focus groups and other events on campus focused on the experiences of queer students. Just last year, an alum who wrote a book about being gay and Catholic visited campus to talk about his experiences. Many of these events have drawn numerous attendees, and it appeared that they were allowing more students to be openly queer on campus. Over the past six months, though, we have watched as much of this progress has been undone.

Most notably, after last year’s visibility day, a few students were seen dumping salt on the JOA quad, in an effort to “purify it” after the event. This is an act of hate speech. Some students brought this forward to administration, and were told it would be dealt with. Even now, according to these students, they have faced no consequences and one of them has even been allowed to remain an RA and a peer minister.

Also, in 2020, there was an event on campus that served Chick-fil-A, which is known to contribute to anti-LGBT organizations. This was brought to the attention of administration, as many queer students were hurt by it, and students were told it would not happen again. Now, the Intercultural Center, an office on campus that claims to support LGBTQ+ and all other marginalized students, is holding an event on October 15th that is expected to have Chick-fil-A.

This isn’t only limited to extracurricular activities, though; many classrooms seem to be perpetuating homophobic ideas. Some professors have said in classes that being gay is not natural, and have even gone so far as to add whether or not it is natural as a quiz question. Others have said in classes that it’s a choice, and have brought it up regardless of any relevance to the curriculum of the class. This is especially harmful, because you never know who in a class may be queer or questioning their identity, and this puts students in an uncomfortable and, potentially, unsafe place that they are generally not able to get out of. It also leaves them to wonder whether their grade in the course will suffer if they express their identity.

After seeing so much progress be undone over the past six months, it’s hard to feel anything but like we’ve been defeated. It’s hard to feel like we belong on this campus when these issues are being so blatantly ignored. One of the offices who says they support us most is supporting a homophobic company. Campus Ministry and Res Life don’t appear to be doing anything to stop these issues. Nothing is being done to stop professors from harming queer students. We are moving backwards, and that needs to change.