CommentsThe Stories / Abigail Francis

Well, I saw a position posted for LBGT services, and realized that that was a very new type of position. Very exciting, on the forefront. There's not a lot of people doing this work in the world. 

I believe my position came about for a number of different reasons. One of them being that we do see a higher rate of suicide and alcohol and drug abuse within the LBGT communities. And that's an incredibly important area to address.  

I had such a tough time in my own coming out process in college. I mean, college is such a great age to come into yourself and to experience who you are and really, you know, believe in yourself and gain all of that wonderful experience in that journey. And I'm, I'm recognizing that that comes with a lot of challenges for people who identified as lesbian, bisexual, gay, or transgendered within the MIT community. 

I've heard from a number of graduate students and faculty and staff about our You Are Welcome Here campaign, which is a simple card given out to all faculty and staff members to post, if they like, on their doors. And it's a, a really powerful message, I think, to send to potential students, but also everyone within the MIT community. That our members who identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered are going to be welcome. 

To me, it was very clear that we can't reduce incidents of homophobia or transphobia without addressing issues of racism, classism, and sexism. All of which are, unfortunately, here at our Institute in various different kinds of ways. And the more that we can be supporting all kinds of communities that offer -- that, that relate to areas of identity, the better off we're all going to be.