Universal Design and LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Bisexual, and Queer) Issues: Creating Equal Access and Opportunities for Success

The authors extend the ideals set forth by the universal design (UD) framework seeking to include the unique needs of students in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Universal design is a philosophy that, when applied to higher education, constitutes acceptance of, equal access for, and equal opportunities for success for all students. The basic tenets of UD were originally developed to address the challenges of designing a campus for students with physical barriers, however recent theorizing has expanded the basic tenets of UD to encompass the needs of students with disabilities and disadvantages that are not necessarily visible (Burgstahler and Cory, 2008), such as LGBTQ students. LGBTQ students routinely face barriers to their success in higher education, including both direct and indirect discrimination and prejudice which oftentimes negatively affects their academic success and overall college experience. Each year, there are several ratings scales, or campus climate ratings, that attempt to gauge how suitable or "LGBTQ-friendly" an institution's campus is. Applying the UD framework, the authors examined the LGBTQ campus climate ratings as a potential existing measure of how well LGBTQ students' needs are currently being met. Two appendixes present: (1) Individual items scored by the Campus Climate Index of LGBT friendly campuses organized by universal design principle; and (2) Individual items scored by the Advocate of LGBT friendly campuses organized by universal design principle. (Contains 6 tables.)