Am I This or That? Supporting Queer and Trans Students of Color

Often operating in silos, cultural centers, LGBT resource centers, women’s resource centers, and disability resource centers exacerbate the marginalization felt by queer and trans students of color (QTSOC) through monolithic resources and programs which focus on only one aspect of their identity. QTSOC are increasingly identifying themselves as an intersectional people and no longer identify solely with a racial minority group or simply as queer or transgender. However, institutions have yet to catch up with these changing dynamics and have fallen behind in supporting the ways students are understanding themselves.

This chapter is a commentary that will explore what it means for QTSOC to navigate campus resources which “underline” pieces of them, how institutions can meet the needs of QTSOC, and what the future of intersectional student services can look like. This chapter is intended to disrupt normative understandings of student support services while centering QTSOC through an intersectional model rooted in seeing whole students and their needs.