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LGBT Issues Are Easier To Talk About At USU, Program Coordinator Says

usu.edu

When Brooke Lambert became the USULGBT program coordinator four years ago, she said many people in Cache County didn’t know what LGBT meant.

 

Since then, the United States has legalized same-sex marriage. Many people are pushing for open bathroom laws and anti-LGBT-discrimination laws, creating a strong dialog about these issues worldwide.

Now, Lambert said most USU community members know that LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, and they’re willing to discuss it.

 

“You know, one of the biggest differences I’ve seen in the last few years is that people are just way more willing to talk about LGBT issues,” Lambert said. “Four and a half years ago it was something that people didn’t really want to talk about, or they were uncomfortable talking about it.”

She said the school’s LGBT ally program has nearly doubled since 2012.

“People are more willing to come out now,” she said. “They feel safer. They feel like they have the support that they need. Because more people are willing to come out, everybody kind of knows somebody. Once you are able to put a face to the LGBT community, I think people are way more willing to reach out and say, ‘What can I do to make it better?’”

And USU has become more sensitive to LGBT needs. In 2015, the university opened the Aggie Recreation Center, which has the school’s first-ever gender neutral locker room.

This year, the university will allow students to use their preferred names on class roles and school identification cards instead of their given names. Lambert said these changes are advantageous to transgender students.

“Our students who go by something other than their first name would have to email their professor ahead of time and say, ‘Hey, this is the name that you’re going to have on your roster, but this is the name I’d like you to use.’ So every time a student had to do that they felt like they were outing themselves to their professor,” Lambert said.

 

She is leaving USU this year for a new position in the LGBT office at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, but hopes the university will continue to have a strong social program for LGBT students.

 

She hopes the university will continue to promote events like transgender awareness week, which is held annually the week of November 20, which is Transgender Day of Remembrance. She wants the program to grow and eventually get a bigger space.