Michigan State international students get their own space

For international LGBTQ+ students, Pride Month, observed in June, is a unique time for reflection.

They hold multiple identities both their LGBTQ+ identity and their cultural background, but coming to terms with them is not always easy.

For graduate student David Zhou, these identities can feel contradictory as transgender rights in China remain a contentious issue and spaces for LGBTQ people are close at hand. Zhou, 25, is transgender and pursuing a STEM education at an urban university in the Midwestern United States.

VOA is using a pseudonym for Zhou's name and is not naming his university to protect his identity because of security concerns at his home in China. Zhou is not open about his transgender identity to his family.

During Pride Month, Zhou said he attended numerous LGBTQ+ events in his community and was surrounded by a supportive group of LGBTQ+ students who could relate to his experiences. But he didn't open up about his identity to everyone on campus and said he doesn't share his preferred pronouns with everyone to avoid transphobic comments.

I feel like I have to make some judgments about that person's character to see if they're a good person to find out about. [my identity] to, said Zhou.

Zhou's Pride Month celebrations included attending local markets with LGBTQ+ vendors and hanging out with his LGBTQ+ friends.

They normalized being trans and for a long time I feel like trans identity is, I have to say a weakness, it brings me fear and worry about discrimination, but having those events is helpful because it allowed me to see that queer people just can THE [live] open, he said.

At social events where few international students are present, Zhou said it can be difficult to fit in.

There are a lot of times when they talk about things that I kind of, don't really understand, mostly because I kind of lack experience or knowledge, he said.

Zhou said he is not aware of specific groups for international LGBTQ+ students at his university, but said international students are more prevalent in graduate programs and therefore find representation in organizations for LGBTQ+ graduate students.

In China, transgender individuals must obtain consent from a close family member, even for adults hoping to transition, which critics say limits the autonomy of transgender individuals while supporters say the policy protects doctors from violence by upset parents .

Struby Struble, a former coordinator of the University of Missouri's LGBTQ+ Resource Center, told NAFSA: Association of International Educators in 2015 that LGBTQ+ international students face a double hurdle on campus.

With their international student friends, they feel isolated because they are LGBT, she said. But then among the LGBT students on campus, they feel isolated because they are international.

Nick Martin, associate director of the Q Center, Binghamton University's LGBTQ+ student support office, said that when international students visit the center, there is often a sense of reluctance as they enter a type of space that may not be present in their home country. .

I compare it to a year after they've come to the space, they've come back, maybe they've come to some of our events, they've connected more, he said.

Martin said graduate students have a unique interest in the Q Center as they can use the office for research and advocacy purposes that align with their studies.

For older students, there may be reluctance in a different way, but I think it's more in the tendency that they want to do some of the advocacy work, he said.

Martin said he thinks about how his office and BUs international student office can support students who come from countries with little or no protection for LGBTQ+ individuals.

It's been a process of learning what those students really need, but I think I've learned that a lot of students are just looking for the safe space that we provide, Martin said.