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##  Sexual Minorities on Community College Campuses. ERIC Digest.                

Participants in the ongoing dialogue surrounding multiculturalism               and inclusiveness on community college campuses are beginning to                incorporate the topic of sexual minorities - lesbian, gay, bisexual,            and transgendered (LGBT) students - in the debate. This digest                  provides a review of current literature on the topic. Notably absent            in the literature is research specific to community colleges;                   however, several publications have begun to address the topic of                LGBT undergraduate students. OBSTACLES IN STUDYING LGBT                       STUDENTSA number of problems complicate the study of the LGBT               student population. First, since there are no data available on the             number of LGBT students in American higher education, it is                     impossible to determine the size or prevalence of the LGBT student              population on community college campuses. Current numbers are                   grounded in sociological studies dating back more than 50 years.                Second, an obstacle to be understood when studying LGBT students is             the identification of a population that, due to social stigma, may              not wish to be identified. Any study of sexual minorities relies on             self-reporting because, by definition, the "coming out" process is a            form of self-selection; those who do not come out are never included            in research efforts. Finally, this research is being conducted                  across a disparate set of disciplines, such as sociology,                       psychology, political science, law, and education, making                       comparisons difficult. 
One reason for the paucity of study may be             fear that faculty, staff, and administrators who wish to study LGBT             students may be perceived as gay (Leider, 1999). Often, such                    perceptions are more than just a damper on an academic career; they             can lead to the end of that career. According to Sanlo (1999), the              mere perception of faculty or staff as gay may result in termination            of employment in some states. HATE CRIMESOne area of concern              to both researchers and the higher education community is anti-gay              violence and harassment. Research in this area is complicated by the            fact that many LGBT student victims fail to report crimes of this               nature to campus or legal authorities (Downey & Stage, 1999). One               researcher's response to this problem has been to study the                     perpetrators of anti-gay violence and harassment instead of their               victims (Franklin, 1998). 
Anti-gay sentiment toward LGBT students             by their fellow students is a subject well represented in the                   educational literature on four-year institutions (Reinhardt, 1997).             Findings from the only study to examine anti-gay violence and                   harassment on community college campuses (Franklin, 1998) indicate              that the problem is more widespread than previously thought.                    Franklin's anonymous survey, conducted at six San Francisco Bay-area            community colleges, indicated that of the 484 respondents, 24                   percent had engaged in verbal harassment of individuals perceived to            be gay or lesbian. Another 10 percent admitted to committing                    physical violence or threats of violence against presumed gay men or            lesbians. In other words, more than 1 in 3 community college                    students had engaged in hate speech or hate crimes on the six                   campuses studied. STUDENT DEVELOPMENTStudent development is               another concern. It is well documented that college students undergo            significant measurable change in factual knowledge, cognitive                   abilities, values, attitudes, and psychosocial                                  development (Chickering and Reisser, 1993). In addition to these                changes, LGBT students often undergo an additional and unique sexual            identity process. A series of discrete steps in the process of                  identity formation are discernible. Cass's (1979) six-stage Theory              of Homosexual Identity Formation informs much of the present work in            the field. Present day researchers theorize five stages (Sanlo,                 1998) while others identify four (Evans, Forney, and Guido-DiBrito,             1998). Regardless of the number of stages posited, it is now common             to see students arriving at community colleges and four-year                    institutions already in some stage of this developmental process and            seeking the services of student affairs professionals (Sanlo,                   1998). 
There are added challenges for those students whose                    identities are complicated by multiple group membership or rejection            of sexual labels. Students of color who also happen to be sexual                minorities are frequently confronted with the problem of identifying            with one or the other group. In their racial group they may be                  subject to homophobic bigotry, while in their sexual identity group             they may have to deal with racism and prejudice (Wall, 1991). There             are those students, too, who engage in same-sex behavior but do not             identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, who reject sexual labels                 altogether but who nevertheless experience confusion regarding their            feelings and behaviors (Green, 1998). As LGBT students undergo the              process of sexual identity formation in largely hostile community               college environments, they may fail to persist to graduation or they            may exhibit other problems, thereby necessitating intervention by               the institution (Sanlo, 1998). THE NEEDS OF LGBT STUDENTSMany             LGBT issues are common to community college campuses and four-year              institutions. One is the "commuter campus syndrome." This syndrome,             in which students attend classes but don't become involved in campus            life, contributes to students' inability to establish relationships             with LGBT peers or create a sense of LGBT community on                          campus (Sanlo, 1998). LGBT students living off campus with parents              are especially affected, as are those working full- or part-time                while attending college. Both situations adversely affect students'             ability to become involved in campus-based LGBT activities. 
A lack            of institutional support services and inadequate opportunities to               interact with other LGBT students, faculty, and staff, may also play            a significant role in sexual minority students' failure to persist.             Finally, administrative barriers to the formation of LGBT student               groups may interfere with these students' abilities to form contacts            and friendships. Typical of these is the practice of some                       institutions of printing the home telephone numbers of LGBT student             group leaders in campus publications. For those students who may not            be "out" to family or friends, this is a violation of their privacy.            Making this information public may also leave these students                    vulnerable to anti-gay telephone harassment as well (Sanlo,                     1998). CONCLUSIONFew studies concerning LGBT students on                  community college campuses are being conducted. While we know little            about these students, we do know that they are being subjected to               harassment and hate crimes by their peers. Recent changes in state              and federal law seem to indicate that failure by community college              administrators to protect these students may lead to legal action               against administrators and institutions. While a legal discussion is            beyond the scope of this digest, it is clear that LGBT community                college students have a set of needs that are clamoring for                     attention. RESOURCESTwo resources have become available to                those working with LGBT students at post-secondary educational                  institutions. Edited by Ronni Sanlo in 1998, Working with Lesbian,              Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students: A Handbook for                 Faculty and Administrators is a practitioner's handbook that                    compiles together forty essays written by researchers and                       practitioners, who cover a broad range of topics pertinent to LGBT              college students. 
Improving campus life for LGBT students should              begin with an assessment of the current state of campus efforts. Nan            Ottenritter (1998) has created an "Institutional Assessment of                  Sexual Minority Status Checklist" containing twelve assessment areas            by which institution's leaders may judge whether it is meeting its              LGBT students' needs. REFERENCESCass, V.                                  C. (1979). "Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model."                Journal of Homosexuality, 4: 219-235. 
Chickering, A.W.; Reisser,              L. (1993) Education and identity. Second Edition. San Francisco:                Jossey Bass. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. (ED             423 498) 
Downey, J. P., & Stage, F. K. (1999, January-February)."             Hate crimes and violence on college and university campuses."                   Journal of College Student Development, 40 (1):3-9. 
Evans, N. J.,             Forney, D. S., & Guido-DiBrito, F. (1998). " Gay, lesbian, and                  bisexual development." Student development in college: Theory,                  research, and practice. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. 
Franklin,                 K. (1998, August 16). Psychosocial motivations of hate crimes                   perpetrators: Implications for educational intervention. Paper                  presented at the 106th Annual Convention of the American                        Psychological Association at San Francisco, CA. (ED 423                         939). 
Green, B. C. (1998, September) "Thinking about students who             do not identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, but..." Journal of                American College Health, 47 (2): 89-91. 
Leider, S. (1999). Sexual             minorities on community college campuses. (ED 427                               796) 
Ottenritter, Nan. (1998, April). "The courage to care:                   Addressing sexual minority issues on campus." Removing Vestiges, 1:             13-20. (JC 990 698) Reinhardt, B. (1997, August). "Examining                    correlates of homophobia in heterosexual college students." Paper               presented at the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological             Association at Chicago, IL. (ED 412 445) 
Sanlo, R.                            L. (Ed.). (1998). Working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and                      transgender college students: A handbook for faculty and                        administrators. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. (ED 427 802) 
Sanlo,            R. L. (1999). Unheard voices : The effects of silence on lesbian and            gay educators. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey. 
Wall , V. A., &               Washington, J. "Understanding gay and lesbian students of color."               Beyond tolerance: Gays, lesbians and bisexuals on campus. American              Association for Counseling and Development, Alexandria, VA.                     1991. 
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ERIC Digests             are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.                       **Title:** Sexual Minorities on Community College Campuses. ERIC Digest.                **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges, University of California             at Los Angeles, 3051 Moore Hall, Las Angeles, CA 90095-1521. Tel:               310-825-3931.                                                                **Descriptors:** College Environment,  Community Colleges, Diversity (Student),                   Homophobia,  Homosexuality,  Sexual Harassment, Social Bias,                   Student Surveys, Two Year Colleges                                           **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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