A Slippery Slope for LGBT Students at University of Oklahoma

When it comes to choosing the right college for you, geography is a significant factor. Are you so far away that visiting home for leisure or during an emergency would be difficult? Is transitioning from a multi-seasonal place like New York to the 24/7 sunshine of California going to be hard on your mind, body, and wardrobe? Geography goes even deeper than that, though. The cultural identity associated with a certain region is often immortalized in a school’s ideologies, rule book and general approach to campus life. The University of Oklahoma’s southern origins are steeped in conservatism and religion, something many states have in common in this part of the country. Students from the LGBT community might feel wary about attending a school like OU, knowing that these two philosophies often oppose their lifestyle. In this case, their apprehension is warranted. Continue reading to see why the university hasn’t made advancements for its LGBT students like some other colleges have.

Anxious students of all kinds flock to College Confidential, a site that’s most used for its forum, to talk with their peers about specific schools. One soon-to-be fraternity member writes that he wants to be more open about his sexuality in college, but is OU the place to do it? A current student responds: “This isn’t a place where I’d feel comfortable walking down the street holding hands with the same sex.” Perhaps we should now add that to our Five Things to Avoid at OU, because our findings suggest that homophobia still permeates the campus culture here. The notion seems to be that you won’t encounter any discrimination as long as you’re not outwardly gay, but that kind of defeats the point, doesn’t it?

There is an LGBT Ally group on school grounds that’s now in its seventh year of fostering diversity on campus, raising awareness, scheduling events, and helping one another through their own journeys. You can easily link up with these people, because many of them sport buttons, signs and tees with the group’s official logo. Examples of events that are held include celebrations for Coming Out Day, LGBT Health Week and others. It’s an eclectic mixture of social and educational functions, plus each event is open to the entire community; no exclusivity here.

To help combat some of the blatant homophobia on campus, the LGBT Ally group pushed for freshmen to complete mandatory diversity training. The school eventually did implement this change, formulating a five-hour course that’s meant to broaden the horizons of young pupils. Still, not all of the group’s needs have been met by the administration. It’s becoming increasingly common for universities to provide LGBT groups with a resource center. Some of these designated spaces are even fully staffed. OU denied the group a center, but compromised with a special study lounge that will be considered a safe zone for meetings, socialization and so forth. While it’s not necessarily a loss for the group, it still shows that OU isn’t willing to go above and beyond for the program. Having support from those in power is extremely important to nationwide LGBT groups who want to reform student handbook policies, be more visible on school grounds and use special funding for their events.

OU’s LGBT group is still fledgling in many ways; it lacks the essential support it needs to reach the next level of awareness. Some students on campus won’t hesitate to express their hateful attitude towards the LGBT community, and it doesn’t appear to be an environment where outward expressions are tolerated. Look elsewhere if you’re hoping for your college experience to be a new chapter in the exploration of your sexuality. Acceptance can be hard to find here.

Ryan James is a ’13 alumnus of Ohio University’s College of Arts & Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in writing and media. He currently works as a copywriter for a Fortune 500 e-commerce corporation based in Columbus, OH.