Introduction

In the fall of 2004, I was a sophomore at the University of Maryland eager to begin expressing my identity as a gay student. I had already come out to a number of close friends, but was still in the proverbial closet to most of the important people in my life.

At the time, the media were streamlining same-sex marriage into the public discourse – albeit as “gay marriage” – with previously unknown persistence, yet I felt dialogue on the issue in my own university’s student newspaper, The Diamondback, was lacking.

In an act of sudden (and terrifying) bravery, I wrote an opinion column addressing gay marriage and outing myself as a gay student. When it was published the next day, my world changed forever; I was essentially out to everyone in my life.

That initial (and guest) participation in The Diamondback eventually evolved into a year of staff opinion column writing, two years as a reporter and a summer as an editor. Throughout that time, I remained passionately tied to LGBT issues on and around the campus.

My experience at The Diamonback made me conscious of how intricate (and complicated) many LGBT issues in the state’s higher education system are, and how important it is for academia to address those issues in a constructive way.

My hope for this blog is that it becomes a resource for understanding, challenging and creating dialogue on LGBT issues in the state’s academic communities.

Log on. Gather information. Broach new subjects. Teach what you know. L.G.B.T.