Shortly after my students were sent home at the beginning of the pandemic, I participated in a Zoom call with the student-led Pride Week Planning Committee. 

Prior to the pandemic, the committee was composed of 12 passionate, energetic, proud queer students. But on our early pandemic call, there were just four squares on my Zoom grid. The students looked more reserved than they had previously been and were less vocal in sharing their ideas and experiences. I wondered “What has happened to this committee?!” 

As our student affairs team mobilized to ensure that every student had safe housing, access to wifi, and other essentials, we neglected to recognize a key concern that some of our queer students had: They had to return to homes where they weren’t out or weren’t fully supported in their identity by their families or roommates. 

In order to protect themselves or follow the path of least resistance (among other changes), our Pride Committee was not as safe of a space for some of the members who were logging in from home. 

Many of our students are still in unsupportive spaces or have hidden parts of their identities as they participate in remote learning. As SA pros, we need to continue to validate these students and their queer identities without outing anyone.

While this post will focus on specific challenges faced by some queer students, keep in mind that these strategies may not be necessary or desired by all queer students — many of whom thrive among supportive families! 

Here are five ways we can support queer students while they’re away from campus.

5 Tips

1. Ask If/When Confidentiality is Appropriate

Now, more than ever, your conversations with students can be overheard by their families or other people in their residences. 

When asking students to share their preferred names or pronouns in icebreakers or other introductions, be sure to give students the opportunity to place an asterisk on that information. Consider inviting students to direct message you through your video conference platform or disclose pronouns or other information in registration forms. You should continually verbalize this opportunity. It’s better to find ourselves repeating the disclaimer like “if you’ve shared information about your identity or pronouns today that you want to stay confidential in this space, let me know so I can honor that” than accidentally outing a student.  

These tactics open the door for students to be themselves and communicate their needs for confidentiality. For example, a student might say “My name is Jay, I use they/them pronouns. But sometimes I might ask you to use he/him pronouns if my family is in the room.” 

2. Create Subtle Safe Spaces

For some queer students, logging into an event advertised as being geared towards LGBTQIA+ folks isn’t an option. So it’s up to us to create spaces that are affirming and celebratory, albeit more subtle. 

Work with existing student organizations to create online hangout spaces wherein students can feel the support and representation they’re used to on campus. This is a prime opportunity to have queer student groups pair up with other organizations or offices on campus.

Consider offering a virtual screening of a film with queer representation or setting up a virtual study hour for a large campus population, such as student athletes or student leaders. Even students who feel accepted and celebrated at home can find joy in affinity spaces like these! 

In these spaces, set a tone of inclusivity by inviting participants to add their pronouns to their Zoom names and setting norms for participation at the start of the session. In the case of films or interactive events, invite students or other staff to define any important vocabulary or concepts depicted to ensure shared understanding. This will encourage all attendees to use language that best reflects their intentions!   

3. Extend Counseling Services

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, non-heterosexual students are twice as likely to experience mental health conditions as their heterosexual peers. Trans students are four times as likely to experience mental conditions as their cisgender peers. 

Two of the identified risk factors for queer students are coming out and experiencing rejection, both of which may be more prevalent among students while learning remotely. Plus, a global pandemic adds yet another stressor, impacting the mental well-being of many students. 

One of the best ways you can support your queer students’ wellbeing is to create seamless, welcoming pathways toward counseling services on or near your campus. 

Is your counseling services office offering virtual counseling? Great! Are they offering or making referrals to a text-based therapy service aimed at greater confidentiality? Even better! 

Using trusted student affairs social media accounts to communicate these services can be majorly helpful. Consider using your social media account as a tool for reiterating information about where to find counseling resources and contact information. You can even take it a step further by cross-promoting wellness events, highlighting student experiences, and reminding students of how they can schedule appointments — especially during high-stress times in the semester. 

As SA pros, we have a unique opportunity to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental health services within college communities. 

4. Offer Safe Housing Options

Unfortunately, safe housing isn’t always an option for queer students. Our LGBTQIA+ students experience homelessness and housing insecurity at much higher rates than their straight, cisgender peers. 

While we attempt to keep density low in our residence halls, it is imperative that we hold rooms on campus to offer to students in need, and widely publicize their availability. This opportunity may be communicated in the same channels as campus food pantries or emergency funds, through RA staff, or through CARES team programs. 

In addition to providing a roof and running water, consider working with residence life staff to identify socially distant ways for students to feel connected and find community within those spaces. Consider setting up regularly scheduled times for residents to pop onto Zoom calls to eat lunch together, inviting students to gather at outdoor seating outdoors, or dropping off take-and-make crafts at residents’ doors. 

For more tips on housing students when residence halls are otherwise closed, check out this episode of Presence’s Will There Be Food? podcast. 

5. Remember Your Students Hold Multiple Identities

Our work must be intersectional. Remember that your queer students are still navigating the other identities they hold. Whether it be related to race, class, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, or another social identity, we need to consider those intersections. 

Our students are complex individuals and the world will treat them as such. The programming we provide to students needs to be customizable, flexible, and responsive to the experiences that our students vocalize.

For example, we should be providing programming and spaces that celebrate queer students of color and queer students exploring religion and faith. If your students are helping plan Black History Month events, consider incorporating queer Black activists like Marsha P. Johnson into the conversation. Or, if you’re sharing contact information for local religious groups, help students identify ones that are welcoming to queer students! 

Above and beyond these tips, you need to continue doing what you do best as an SA pro. Show up for your students, no matter what. Listen when they tell you what they need and believe them when they share their stories of struggle. And you follow through on creating solutions to help them thrive on your campus and beyond. 

How have your engagement tactics shifted to better support queer students throughout the pandemic? Connect with us on Twitter @themoderncampus.