In April 2016, a sign was posted on the door of a bathroom located at the Cube, a drive-thru convenience store in Norman that said, “No Trans-gender zone.” Seven months later, during Oklahoma State University’s “OU Hate Week,” a banner reading “DeDe Westbrook & Baker Mayfield bang dudes” was on display at the OSU student union.
There are roughly 26 bills being considered by the Oklahoma Legislature that will in some way limit, discriminate or threaten the rights of the LGBTQ community.
These are just a few of the reasons that the Queer Student Association & LGBTQ students at The University of Oklahoma fought for the creation of the LGBTQ Lounge. Located at the Oklahoma Memorial Union, the lounge officially opened during the summer break of 2015, but the grand opening didn’t occur until October.
Two years after it opened, the LGBTQ Lounge remains a thriving and popular place for the LGBTQ community on campus. The number of students regularly visiting the lounge fluctuates, but it is rarely seen empty.
The Queer Student Association uses the lounge to conduct meetings and students use the space to socialize and study. To some students, the lounge is something close to a second home.
To prospective OU student and current high school senior Haley Clarke, the lounge is another reason for her to consider attending The University of Oklahoma.
“Not a lot of colleges offer a safe space like this, so it really just gets me excited about OU in general,” Clarke said.
However, the LGBTQ Lounge is not without criticism.
Students have reported that people have taken pictures and peeked into the windows of the lounge and making the students uncomfortable. Insensitive comments have been made to students using the lounge and some students feel the lounge segregates the LGBTQ students from the rest of the student body.
LGBTQ students and allies who strive to educate others about the LGBTQ Lounge feel as if the lounge is invisible to the rest of the student body.
Kasey Catlett, the Gender + Equality Center’s associate director of LGBTQ and health programs, said, “Yes, it’s not perfect. There are a million things that we would like to do differently, but right now this is the space that we have to work with and everyone has to pitch in and take care of it.”
