In light of GLOW's list of demands released last week, we would like to bring your attention to the trend of queer micro-aggressions on campus. While we do not speak on behalf of Lawrence's entire LGBTQ+ community, we are speaking from personal experience, having ourselves experienced harassment for our identities. Here's how it manifests:

College Avenue

This is the worst of the aggressions encountered by Lawrence students. Of any identity, LGBTQ+ students walking down or crossing College Avenue have been catcalled or insulted with homophobic slurs. A few months ago, there was a non-violent incident involving myself and another girl. I was dressed more androgynously, my friend dressed more "effeminately" and as we walked down College Avenue, we were approached by a man on a motorcycle who not only catcalled us once, but drove back around the block to pester us about what "we were doing tonight" and whether he could watch. Not only was this terribly intrusive but also absolutely terrifying - having occurred within the first few weeks of moving to Appleton. Another situation occurred when I was crossing College Ave during high traffic. Aiming to be polite, I scurried across the street, only to hear a middle-aged woman from one of the cars shout, "Run faster, f----t!" at me. I turned around as she drove off and rolled up her window. I was left scared of townmembers, and shamed of my sexual identity. As a crucial part of Appleton, Lawrence students would expect to be respected, not ridiculed and tormented on the streets.

Yik-Yak

This is a close tie for first with College Avenue. Yik-yak, in its vast slew of memes and jokes about the hottest professors, has also become a source of harassment and social toxicity. Ranging from bashing GLOW to "The f----t in cowboy boots needs to stop," Yaks about LGBTQ+ students are derogatory, and result in fear and low self esteem. The students on this campus are not Barbie dolls whose lives you can twist and play with. We are human. This behavior is immature and does not reflect Lawrence's supposedly welcoming and diverse ethical values. As liberal arts students, we owe it to ourselves and our fellow students to hold ourselves to a higher standard. The use of Yik-Yak to cowardly attack an entire community on campus needs to stop.

Dress

From quiet scrutinies about a cross-dressing individual at President's Ball to walking across campus in an outfit of choice, LGBTQ+ students face constant scrutiny and adverse reactions for how they express themselves via clothing. While neither of us have experienced trans scrutiny, as we do not identify as trans, we are still often labeled and mocked in accordance to our choice of dress. More often than not, trends of style of the LGBTQ+ community are stereotyped and automatically attributed to our sexualities and identities. It is easy to fall into this trap of blindly attributing one's clothing with their identity, in fact we are guilty of that ourselves at times and must actively check ourselves and our privileges to judge anyone on that matter. Lawrence as a student body, including LGBTQ+ members such as ourselves, need to be open minded of expression through dress and step away from a derogatory mindset.

Sexual Hierarchy

This is pervasive of all identities on campus, showing up as a "who is the hottest ___ in the college/con." The result is a list of initials that fetishizes specific students for their aesthetic appearance, and a sexual hierarchy of shallow body preferences. It is destructive to self-esteem when you don't meet a said standard, especially when concerns a part of your appearance or identity you cannot alter, such as your race. On college campuses in the U.S. alike, there is a dangerous culture of fetishizing the sex lives of LGBTQ+ people, where for an effeminate polyamorous pansexual such as myself falls to their opportunity to engage in group sex or simply observe as myself and another non-heterosexual female engage in sexual activity. The heavy objectification received by not only people of my identification but a large portion, at the very least, of the LGBTQ+ community is another dangerous aspect in Lawrence culture as well as college culture that must be addressed and abolished.

Respect

While we presented these aggressions as separate entities, they often occur in succession or at the same time. The way around all of them? Respect. Respect your fellow students of any identity. Learn chosen pronouns, avoid gay jokes if asked, stop using derogatory terms, and stop assuming identity. Engage with LGBTQ+ with open and curious minds, but understand the line where curious becomes intrusive. Also, it is not a LGBTQ+ student's responsibility to educate you. If curious, Google it! Knowing a little and then asking someone for clarification is better than comfortable ignorance.

To those still receiving these micro-aggressions on Lawrence campus, and the Appleton community as a whole, we stand by you in sympathy and wish you all to know that you aren't alone.

To those who were previously uninformed, we hope you found this article informative and will take the proper actions to not only educate yourself but also work towards a more inclusive and welcoming Lawrence.