Affirming LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education

This book will guide institutions of higher learning in making practical and effective changes at many levels to better support LGBTQ+ students and, ultimately, improving the campus climate for all.

For college students with marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations, simply getting through a day of study—not to mention work, exercise, and social life—can be taxing in the extreme, due to the additional weight of minority stress.

However, there are many steps higher education leaders can take, both to boost students’ resilience and to dismantle the very structures that create minority stress. These steps may involve changes to facilities, student health and resource centers, housing, administrative policy, faculty training, curriculum, and other areas.

This book presents research-based needs assessment frameworks and best practices for integrating a broad array of institutional changes to improve LGBTQ+ students’ higher education experience. Chapters describe student populations with multiple intersecting identities: transgender students, students of color, students with disabilities, student athletes, international students, and first-generation college students. The authors also address issues unique to different settings, including community colleges, religious institutions, and historically Black colleges and universities.

Contributors
Introduction. Affirming All LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education: A Call to Action
Kirsten Gonzalez, Saumya Arora, Roberto Abreu & David Rivera

Part I. Contexts

• Chapter 1. Institutionalizing LGBTQ+ Student Support
  Anneliese Singh
• Chapter 2. Exploring the Complexities of Black Sexual and Gender Minorities in Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  Angela Ferguson
• Chapter 3. Planning and Building New Foundations: Developing Proposals for Creating LGBTQI+ Resources at Community Colleges
  Emalinda McSpadden, Leilani Masse, & Ines I. Almarante
• Chapter 4. LGBTQ Students in Non-Affirming Religious Institutions
  Theresa Stueland Kay & Joshua R. Wolff
• Chapter 5. One Model, Multiple Locations: The Salisbury University Safe Spaces Program
  Diane S. Illig, Michele M. Schlehofer & Tara Taylor

Part II. Student Populations

• Chapter 6. Recommendations and Advocacy Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Transgender College Students
  Luke Allen & lore dickey
• Chapter 7. Supporting LGBTQ+ College Students with Disabilities
  Franco Dispenza, Merideth Ray & Jamian S. Coleman
• Chapter 8. Creating Safe Spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Student-Athletes
  Taylor McCavanagh & Michael C. Cadaret
• Chapter 9. Navigating New Terrain: Sexual and Gender Diverse College Students Who Are the First in Their Families to Attend College
  Alison Cerezo & Amaranta Ramirez
• Chapter 10. Supporting Rural LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education Settings
  Joel Goodrich & Michael James McClellan
• Chapter 11. Supporting LGBTQ+ International Students in Higher Education
  Nadine Nakamura, Jan Estrellado & Saeromi Kim
• Chapter 12. Resisting Colonization in Higher Education and Empowering LGBTQ+ Students: Mobilizing Toward Liberation
  Roberto Abreu, Saumya Arora, Kirsten Gonzalez & David Rivera

Index
About the Editors

David P. Rivera, PhD, is an associate professor of counselor education at Queens College-City University of New York. His professional experience includes college counseling, higher education administration, and also includes consultations and training on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.

His research is guided by critical theories and social justice frameworks, and explores cultural competency development and issues impacting the marginalization and wellbeing of people of color and oppressed sexual orientation and gender identity groups, with a focus on microaggressions.

Learn more about Dr. Rivera’s work on Twitteropens in new window and Instagramopens in new window.

Roberto L. Abreu, PhD, is an assistant professor of counseling psychology and the director of the Collective Healing and Empowering VoicEs through Research and Engagement (¡Chévere!) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida (UF).

Dr. Abreu’s research explores ways in which marginalized communities resist systemic oppression and promote bienestar colectivo (collective well-being), with a particular focus on Latinx communities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ); and the intersection of Latinx and LGBTQ people and communities.

Follow Dr. Abreu on Twitteropens in new window or the ¡Chévere! Lab on Twitteropens in new window, Instagramopens in new window, or Facebookopens in new window.

Kirsten A. Gonzalez, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of psychology, specializing in counseling psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). She is also a core faculty member in women, gender, and sexuality studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies at UTK.

Dr. Gonzalez's research and clinical interests include the psychological well-being of LGBTQ+ Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color, migration experiences of Latinx community members, and allyship and social justice advocacy interventions.

Follow Dr. Gonzalez on Twitteropens in new window or learn more about her work with The ReSIsT Lab on Instagramopens in new window or on their websiteopens in new window.

• APA Division 44 Distinguished Book Award

Loaded with empirical research, informed by minority stress and critical race theories, and focused upon practical application in this unprecedented moment of pandemic, social disruption, and unrest, this volume offers an unflinching and comprehensive analysis of students and institutional contexts that are too often left behind.
—Carla A. Pfeffer, PhD, MSW, Director of the Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

As a dean, I find this book to be a great resource for administrators, faculty, and staff in higher education. Experts in the field, the authors do an excellent job discussing theory and practical applications to support LGBTQ+ persons with multiple minoritized identities at various higher education settings.
—Y. Barry Chung, PhD, Dean, College of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

Informative. Insightful. Imaginative. These scholars and practitioners use history, policy, research, and case study to narrate the complex experiences of LGBTQ+ college students. The text should be a resource in undergraduate classrooms and graduate training, as well as in professional development and policy formation in higher education. The authors provide permission for us to ask important, difficult questions so that we can dream differently about LGBTQ+ inclusion on college campuses.
—Carlton E. Green, PhD, Green Psychological Services, Largo, MD