The Student Assembly (SA) unanimously voted to pass a resolution expressing its support of continued proposals for an on-campus LGBTQ+ resource center at its meeting Tuesday night. The resolution is a written notice of support for the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC) that responds to a recent Boston Globe article about calls for the University to open an LGBTQ+ resource center on campus.
Due to recent anti-trans laws and anti-trans rhetoric, I feel obligated to share on behalf of the transgender community a sliver of what I go through on campus and the lack of support BC’s queer community receives from the University.
Following roughly two decades of advocacy, BC students continue to call for a resource center.
Boston College denied a proposal for a queer resource center in November, citing its Jesuit values, GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC) Chair Wells Arkins said at a Student Assembly (SA) meeting on Tuesday night.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and nine former and current Boston city councilors signed a petition calling for Boston College to create an LGBTQ+ resource center on campus and include gender identity in the University’s discrimination policy, according to a post on BC Equality’s Instagram on Monday.
The petition has garnered high-profile support in the past, including a retweet from Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and an endorsement from former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, both last March.
UGBC leaders are undergoing conversations with the University administration about ways BC can better support its students who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. While conversations are ongoing, BC has no plans to establish an LGBTQ+ resource center in the near future, according to Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore and Director of Student Outreach and Support Caroline Davis.
A petition calling for BC to support LGBTQ+ students has more than 1,000 signatures. Another calling on BC to implement a gender-neutral housing program has more than 200.
“Can we no longer hold a public opinion, if it disagrees with those who have a hold over media and loud voices?”
“If we want to continue to grow as a Boston College community it is important that we do not hide behind what is perceived as Jesuit ideals and other kinds of groupthink and think for ourselves.”
