Thoughts on a Reading: LGBTQ Culture on Community College Campuses

Call to Action: Embracing an Inclusive LGBTQ Culture on Community College Campuses
Jason L. Taylor
NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES • DOI: 10.1002/cc
Pp. 57-66

“It is also important to recognize that heterosexism is not always intentional and can manifest itself in our innocuous everyday actions, behaviors, and assumptions.” (p. 59)
Somehow I feel that this statement would not elicit the same visceral resistance that the statement “ It is also important to recognize that racism is not always intentional and can manifest itself in our innocuous everyday actions, behaviors, and assumptions” does. Certainly there is fervent resistance to equal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals, arguably much stronger than resistance to equal rights for people of color, but still somehow I don’t think the statement that heterosexism can be unintentional would get the same knee-jerk reaction that one almost always seems to receive when suggesting that racism can be - and is - perpetrated even by people who are not intentionally racist. Is this because we generally see racists as “bad people,” but it is still acceptable - and even respected - to be a heterosexist in much of our society? Is it because we want to believe that we have moved past racism - but extending equal rights to LGBTQ+ individuals is still a fairly new idea for many people?

“Despite one’s political persuasion on public policies affecting LGBTQ people, the fact remains that the discriminatory effects of policies have a negative impact on LGBTQ people resulting in perceptions of stigma (Pew Research Center, 2013) and adverse health outcomes (Hatzenbuehler, 2010).” (p. 59)
Why is the phrase “despite one’s political persuasion on public policies affecting LGBTQ people” necessary? I feel like it is past time to make a stand and stop treating bigotry as a different point of view with the same validity as something like being for or against sales tax. That might not be the best example, but my point is, being “for” or “against” equal rights for LGBTQ people is a question of preference, it is a choice between something that is inherently morally wrong and something that isn’t. Perhaps this is the author’s point as well - that regardless of your current beliefs, facts are facts and such a position is demonstrably harmful to others. I still would have preferred to see this point made more explicitly, or for the concession to political persuasions not to have been made at all.