A recent CBS news article discusses the safety concerns many LGBT students have about studying abroad. Marc Caporiccio, an openly gay Canadian graduate student, worried about his safety when he traveled to South Africa with a group of university students, the article reported. "The question on the top of my mind is, “Am I being me abroad?" he said, as reported CBS.
Brita Doyle, a study abroad adviser at American University and co-chair of the International Association of Educators Rainbow Group, said, “LGBT students have many of the same concerns most students have in traveling to a different country. But, then they also might have some extra concerns [such as] whether or not there are different laws in a country pertaining to them as an LGBT individual," Doyle said, CBS reported. Caporiccio said many LGBT students have to deal with safety concerns on their own.
How can we change this? Advisors have approached Doyle to get advice on how to support LGBT students who study abroad. She recommends addressing LGBT issues with all students and incorporating queer concerns into general information sessions.
The University of British Columbia’s Go Global program is an example of a supportive LGBT program, as it makes LGBT information available to students through different formats and has students fill out questionnaires about their host country after they return home. This can help prospective study abroad students decide what country they’d like to travel to based on other students’ reviews.
"Having supports available, having resources available, knowledgeable staff available — it all is imperative for students' success abroad,” said Caporiccio, CBS reported.
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