The Opinion section is excited and honored to share with you the Spring 2023 LGBTQ+ Identity Special Issue. In this issue, we welcome the perspectives of eight authors who share their experience with their LGBTQ+ identity and propose ideas to make Georgetown University a more inclusive and welcoming community for all.
VIEWPOINT: Unlearn GU Heteronormativity
I knew Georgetown University from the start was not established for students like me: a person of color, female and queer. After all, it wasn’t until 1969 that the university was fully coed. The prospect of applying to a religious institution was far from enticing to me as a senior in high school. Despite —…
VIEWPOINT: Value All Forms of Queerness
I fall into the questioning part of the LGBTQ+ community, which is an under-discussed portion of the queer experience. There is no one right way to navigate the queer experience, but more understanding of oneself or others always makes it easier. My story of questioning my identity has no clear beginning. In eighth grade, I…
VIEWPOINT: Celebrate Student Allyship
“Wow, being gay at Georgetown … you must be fighting for your life.” This is a common refrain that I hear from others when they learn that I am openly queer at Georgetown University. But I disagree. Georgetown has a well-known culture as an academically rigorous university that closely aligns itself with Jesuit values and…
VIEWPOINT: Stop the Normalization of Hate
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has built a platform and rabid following, not by solving any kind of real issue but by targeting “wokeness,” a word that his General Counsel Ryan Newman defined as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” Frequently, Republicans use “wokeness” as a synonym…
VIEWPOINT: Expand Inclusive Language
“Do you have a boyfriend?” The dental hygienist asked the question in jest as I sat in the chair awaiting my routine teeth cleaning. I laughed politely and responded, “No,” to which I wanted to add, “And I never will.” That wasn’t a conversation to initiate with a stranger, so the latter response remained in…
VIEWPOINT: Value Nonbinary Experiences
I hate receiving compliments — I can never find the right words to respond. Maybe it’s because my Vietnamese American family shows affection through every medium but words: plates of freshly cut fruit, neatly folded squares of laundry or tickets to the latest blockbuster are the ways my parents prefer to say “I care for…
VIEWPOINT: Empower LGBTQ+ Identity in Religious Understanding
I firmly and deeply believe that God is trans. Or queer, or gender-nonconforming in some manner or another. I know and trust this understanding for a variety of reasons, mainly because the divine — whatever people may call it or define it — feels too vast, too mysterious, too undefinable to fit neatly into any…
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VIEWPOINT: Reject Religious Homophobia
CW: This article references/discusses homophobia.. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and off-campus resources. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime” should not be a revolutionary position. However, those were the groundbreaking words that Pope Francis said in a Jan. 25 interview with the Associated Press — the first time that a pope…
