Impact of College
on Student Attitudes Toward Gay and
Lesbian Issues
Discussion - Conclusion
By Diana Kardia
Copyright 1996, Diana Kardia
Reprinted with author's permission.
"The right to be different...it is
a fantastic right." (Friere, 1992) When
Paulo Friere articulated this definition
of diversity during a public address
to students at the University of Michigan
School of Education, he spoke of lesbians
and gay men in the United States as
a primary example of a population striving
for the right to be different. In his
talk, he spoke of a need for societal
transformation in which antagonism,
rather than difference, becomes the
focus of change efforts. As I listened
to Friere speak, I knew that he was
consciously addressing these words to
a room full of educators. Throughout
his own life's work, Paulo Friere had
experienced education as a means of
transformation, as a power through which
individual consciousness is developed
and new possibilities emerge. While
the higher educational system in the
United States is very different from
the adult education work Friere has
devoted his life to in Brazil, I share
his belief in the potential of education
to confront social oppression and create
new forms of diverse community.
However, ensuring the right to be different
and the active confrontation of antagonistic
perspectives is more easily said than
done. This difficulty is reflected in
a letter to the editor of The Michigan
Daily (the student newspaper at the
University of Michigan) written by the
director of public affairs and information
for the University of Michigan Housing
Division:
In moving toward and creating a community
marked by diversity, difficult issues
and clashes of opinion will always
be present. In many respects, a college
campus is the most uniquely suited
institution in American society to
act as a marketplace for ideas. The
Living at Michigan Credo is the Housing
Division's statement of core values
with respect to human rights and civility
in residential communities. The credo
notes that "the University is a special
place. It is a community designed
to foster freedom of thought and unconventional,
even uncomfortable opinions...We desire
to build residence halls and family
housing communities in which individuals
are not harassed, excluded, or made
to feel uncomfortable" because, among
other things, of sexual orientation.
(Levy, 1993)
This letter was written in response
to one of many incidents on the University
of Michigan campus in which the visibility
of lesbian/gay/bisexual concerns on
campus has prompted public expressions
of negative attitudes toward sexual
diversity. It speaks of a conviction
that higher education provides a unique
and important opportunity for the type
of social transformation called for
by Friere, suggesting that this transformation
process is likely to yield uncomfortable
feelings for some while attempting to
decrease the discomfort, harassment,
and exclusion experienced by others.
How do students traverse the uncomfortable,
antagonistic terrain associated with
communities that are inclusive of sexual
diversity? What role does education
play in a social transformation toward
a more diverse society? This study has
attempted to provide initial answers
to these questions. Higher education
is, indeed, a setting in which individuals
become more accepting of sexual diversity
and that these changes are likely to
be attributable, at least in part, to
the specific experience of college.
We are in need of considerable institutional
experience and additional research to
provide better maps of this terrain
so that the journey may become more
possible for all students-lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and heterosexual alike. Complete
agreement within the student population
regarding matters relating to sexual
diversity may not be possible or even
desirable. However, mutual respect and
shared existence within an interdependent
community are necessary, attainable,
and consistent with the fundamental
goals of education.
This piece has been excerpted from
"Diversity's Closet: Student Attitudes
Toward Lesbians, Gay Men, And Bisexual
People on a Multicultural Campus" by
Diana Kardia. If you would like more
information on this study you may email
the author at: dbk@umich.edu.
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