From the News Blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education
April 9, 2007
Black Colleges Fail to Welcome Gay Students and Groups
Gay students often feel unwelcome at historically black colleges,
where homophobia may prevent classmates and administrators alike from
acknowledging the presence of lesbians and gay men, reports the
Associated Press.
The wire service says black colleges have a disproportionately small
number of gay-student organizations, in some cases because the groups
can’t find faculty members willing to serve as advisers. Hampton
University has twice refused to permit a gay-student group to form
because of a moratorium on the number of student organizations.
A representative of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group, told
the AP that some historically black colleges were hostile to the idea
of allowing groups of gay students to meet, while others denied having
any gay students.
But the head of the Coalition of African-American Pastors in Memphis,
Tenn., said black-college administrators “don’t have to give a lot of
reasons” for banning gay-student groups, because acceptance of
homosexuality would be “a threat to the black family.” —Lawrence
Biemiller
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