LGBTQ College Students’ Experiences With University Health Services: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

Access to inclusive, equitable health care is central to the wellbeing of all college students yet little is known about LGBTQ students’ experiences with university health services. In this article, individual interviews with a convenience sample of 14 LGBTQ students at a large public university were analyzed to explore their perceptions of and experiences with the university’s health center and its services. Our findings demonstrate that the university is not adequately meeting their health care needs. Participants’ narratives offer insights into how to improve campus-based health services for LGBTQ students.

KEYWORDS:

• College students
• health care
• university health services
• LGBTQ health
• United States

Acknowledgments

The first two authors conducted this research to fulfill the undergraduate thesis requirement of the South Carolina Honors College. The third and fourth authors served as their second reader and their thesis director, respectively. The first two authors shared equally in the production of the research and original thesis, and the third and fourth authors were substantively involved in revising the thesis for publication as a peer-reviewed manuscript. The authors would like to thank Jennifer Myers, Dr. Rebecca Caldwell, Dr. Kay Banks. This study would not have been possible without all of the participants who generously shared their time and perspectives to enhance our understanding of the health and wellbeing LGBTQ college students.

Notes

¹ The U.S. Department of Education (2015) issued guidelines that Title IX’s sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based on “gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity” and that schools “should investigate and resolve allegations of sexual or gender-based harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students using the same procedures and standards that it uses in all complaints involving sex-based harassment” (pp. 15–16).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funds from the South Carolina Honors College.