I'm From Driftwood

gaywrites:

[Disclaimer: I wrote the article linked above! But that’s not why I’m posting it, I swear.]

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has started offering an LGBT minor to students, the first school in the state to do so.

A survey from a couple years back about the campus climate for LGBT people showed that ULL was not as LGBT-inclusive as the school would have liked, and the idea came up of offering an interdisciplinary minor focusing on LGBT issues. The minor became available to students this past spring semester and is already gaining momentum, incorporating classes from areas of study like anthropology and sociology.

“It’s not only going to promote acceptance and tolerance on campus, but it’s also going to give students who are LGBT, questioning, or just looking for some sort of support the knowledge and comfort of knowing there are people on campus they can turn to if they need something,” Christina Newgebaver, assistant coordinator for the LGBT minor, toldThe Vermillion. “It will hopefully promote educated learning about LGBTs and not promote the stereotypes that are out there.”

At my school I’m pursuing a double major in gender studies, which I can imagine is somewhat similar in coursework (though certainly not identical) to LGBT studies or the like. I have learned tons of valuable information not only about LGBT and women’s issues, but about myself and life in general, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. ULL has already gotten a lot of flack for doing this, but honestly, props for stepping up and going where no (Louisiana) school had gone before.