Being Out, Loud, and Proud at Barnard

Earlier this semester while taking over the Admissions Instagram, I highlighted a class I’m taking this semester called U.S. Lesbian and Gay History. One thing I think is really great about that class is how much--for lack of better wording--gay history Columbia (and not to sound like a stereotype, but especially Barnard) has embedded in its history, and how often our professor, George Chauncey, calls that history to attention. 

Frankly, I could go on and on and on about how much I appreciate Professor Chauncey’s style of teaching and the way he highlights previously underrepresented narratives in his lectures. Quite often, as a history major, I’m astounded by the things I never learned about in high school and am just now getting to know, especially because my studies have an American/Western European focus and I’ve been learning about those histories since...basically, elementary school. This history class is just one of the many since coming to college where I’ve learned about a new person or an entire group of people left out of my survey courses in high school. 

It’s especially amazing to see these stories unfold throughout the course of American history; how society moved from notions of “homosexual” to “gay”; how people could have relationships with other people of the same sex without organizing their lives as “homosexual”; how the idea of “coming out” came into being and how loaded the concept actually was (and might still be). It’s so interesting to talk about a facet of identity so many people--especially of this generation, where we’ve grown up seeing Ellen and Neil Patrick Harris, and more recently, Sam Smith, Kristen Stewart, and Laverne Cox--can say as easily as they name their hometown or age. 

Lest this post just turn into me rambling on and on about how awesome this one particular history class is, there are other classes in many other disciplines, from English to psychology to women’s studies, which deal with LGBTQ issues. 

Academics aside, there are a bunch of extracurricular and social activities for students looking to get involved in LGBTQ+ life at Barnard and Columbia. Like I say on my tours, there’s a club for just about everything at Barnard or Columbia, including groups for people of different identities. There’s everything from general queer/LGBTQ+ affinity groups like Barnard Q, the Columbia Queer Alliance, and GendeRevolution, an on-campus trans support and advocacy group, to groups you might view as being a bit more on the niche side: iQ for students who identify as LGBTQ+ in STEM; Columbia Queer Business Society for pre-business LGBTQ+ students; and the Queer Health Alliance for queer and ally pre-med or pre-health students. Then, there are also groups who focus on intersectional identities, such as Proud Colors for queer students of color; Queer & Asian (Q&A) for students holding both identities; and JQ for Jewish LGBTQ+ students. 

That all might sound a little overwhelming, especially if you’re new to campus and you’re already feeling a bit of sensory overload. Thankfully, even if you feel like you can’t commit to being in a particular club or campus group, there are very relaxed get-togethers for students (and faculty/administrators!) who identify as LGBTQ+, starting from your first week on campus! As a two-time orientation leader and one-time new student myself, I can say with certainty that every orientation, there is an LGBTQ+ mixer--a very casual hangout where new students, current students, faculty, and administrators at Barnard who share this identity all get together to talk about Barnard, college, and life in general. It doesn’t stop at orientation, either: every now and then, I’ll see posters hanging around on campus and in my dorm, advertising an LGBTQ+ mixer for Columbia and Barnard students and faculty. 

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression: walking onto Barnard’s campus is not quite like Simon imagined college in Love, Simon (by the way, what a missed opportunity to play “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross!) Everyone on campus has their own identities and their own relationships with those identities. There’s no push or obligation to talk about things you don’t feel comfortable sharing; there’s no shame in not being extremely involved in all aspects of LGBTQ+ life, either. However, something that’s really great about Barnard-- and college in general-- is that you’re given the resources to explore how involved (or uninvolved!) you want to be in those communities. What’s more is that we have the fantastic ability to learn about those communities, issues, and histories in as casual or academic a setting as we please.