Module 1: Introduction
MATT: Hey, I’m Matt.
ROBBY: And I’m Robby.
MATT: We’ve been roommates for a long time, since we got paired to live together our first semester.
ROBBY: …And we’re friends, too!
MATT: (Laughs) Yeah, I thought that was a given! We’re roommates and we’re friends. And today we’re gonna talk about how you can make a difference on campus: supporting your friends and classmates who are LGBTQ.
ROBBY: —That’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning.
MATT: Right. Like, I’m bisexual. Robby’s straight. And I was nervous about coming out to him at first. I thought that he might… ask for a room change or something.
ROBBY: Really? You thought I’d want to switch rooms?
MATT: Well, yeah; it’s not that uncommon. A lot of people I know lost friends when they came out. I’m lucky I have good friends, but there are plenty of people I know who haven’t had it that easy.
ROBBY: Actually… that’s why we want to talk to you. See, there are a few things students like us can do to make campus a better place for everybody.
MATT: College can be stressful for any student, but LGBTQ students like me can have extra stressors—like harassment, or bullying, or being judged or rejected by the people we come out to…
This makes some LGBTQ students feel lonely or depressed. And like anyone who feels that way, sometimes they can start doing dangerous things, like drinking too much or thinking about hurting themselves.
ROBBY: And we can all relate. I mean, LGBTQ or straight, almost all of us have felt like an outsider or been picked on at some point.
MATT: We get that not everyone is completely comfortable with this stuff.
ROBBY: Yeah. You know, before Matt came out to me, I’d never met anyone who was out as LGBTQ. And to be honest, at first, I was…(he trails off.)
MATT: (Jokingly.) Weirded out?
ROBBY: (Laughs.) Well…
MATT: It’s okay—you don’t have to be embarrassed.
ROBBY: I mean…okay, yeah. It was just so new to me, and… I didn’t know what to expect. But I learned pretty quick that there really was nothing to expect.
Sure, we’re different, in terms of who we’re attracted to, but we have more in common than not. And we both deserve to feel respected on campus.
MATT: (To user.) So whether this is completely new to you, or you’re already familiar with this stuff, we ask that you just keep an open mind here today. You can make more of an impact than you might realize, just by being a friend.
ROBBY: Actually, this came up with our friends the other night…