Over 25 students and some faculty crammed inside the Lavender Library to listen to 

Thomas J. West III speak about his experiences regarding LGBTQ acceptance in Appalachia, specifically, in his home state of West Virginia.

The United States has experienced a cultural shift in terms of LGBTQ acceptance since the early 2000s.

While the shift can be attributed to a variety of things, something that has not changed is the fact that members of the LGBTQ community have to live with their identity no matter the climate of the politics surrounding them.

The event, organized by Taine Duncan, associate professor and director of the gender studies program, had refreshments and pizza.

Duncan was able to sponsor the event through a special grant UCA received.

“It’s sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Religion, and it’s also sponsored and funded by a grant from the American Philosophical Association. It’s the Diversity and Inclusiveness grant, which is really exciting. It’s a really competitive grant. They only awarded it to two universities in the entire United States this past year,” Duncan said.

West’s visit is part of a diverse speaker series sponsored by this grant.

Inclusivity and diversity are both things that UCA strives to demonstrate on campus.

“It’s amazing that our university is taking steps to have a space for people to explore their identities in,” freshman Jasmine Bates said. “I love that they have lectures that cover LGBTQ topics that affect us like religious trauma or family relations.”

As of 2023, Arkansas scored 32 out of 100 possible points regarding LGBTQ cultural and legal situations.

The ranking, conducted by Out Leadership, took into account the percentage of LGBTQ citizens, economic empowerment for LGBTQ individuals, and laws regarding gender and sexual orientation to calculate an overall LGBTQ business climate score.

The Lavender Library, located in Arkansas Hall, allows a safe space for students who identify as part of or support the LGBTQ community.

Lavender Libraries can be found on college campuses across the nation and joined the UCA family in 2022 through a grant given by the Arkansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The next speaker in the diversity series, Reverend Tanya Jeffcoat will visit UCA’s Lavender Library on Nov. 8. Jeffcoat’s speech, “Confronting Religious Trauma: Conversation and Action for Building Affirming Communities”, will encompass the experiences of LGBTQ members with faith and how the two are not mutually exclusive.