Resistance and Retreat: Connecting Judicial and State Policy Contexts to LGBTQ+ Affirming Campus Policy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Being Queer and Trans on Campus: Leadership, Campus Policies, and Cross-Cultural Mobilization

Abstract

There has been a sharp rise recently in actions at the state and federal level that target LGBTQ+ students and policies and practices that support them in higher education. This study responds to these developments in two ways: First, we used queer theory and QuantQueer methodology to complicate common assumptions about policymaking. Second, with original data, we explored how juridico-political structures shape postsecondary policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ students. Overall, we came to two key findings: (1) the presence of LGBTQ+ affirming policies is strongly associated with both state context and the federal circuit court in which universities are located, and (2) merely the introduction of anti-LGBTQ+ bills is associated with the absence or withdrawal of key trans-affirming policies.

Authors

• Travis Heath Olson, Michigan State University

• Ailidh Wallace, College of William & Mary

• Obed Amoakoh Boateng, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Kamden Strunk, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Amanda J. Davis Simpfenderfer, College of William & Mary

• Mario I Suárez, Utah State University

• Jason C. Garvey, University of Vermont