LSU offers new LGBTQ minor

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By Amanda Lindsley | June 13, 2019 at 5:26 AM CDT - Updated June 13 at 5:51 AM BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana State University is striving to make their university more LGBTQ-friendly. Starting this fall in 2019 LSU has launched a new, 18-credit-hour LGBTQ minor program. Associate professor Elaine M. Maccio, designed the program. Maccio, currently works in the School of Social Work for the university. “A few years ago, I recognized in LSU’s curriculum a paucity of courses on sexuality in general, and a gap regarding LGBTQ – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer – topics in particular,” Maccio said. Last fall Maccio ran a pilot of the program’s core course, and Introduction to LGBTQ Studies to gauge students interest. Maccio then pitched a proposal curriculum and received approval from the Faculty Senate Courses and Curricula Committee last November. Damon Andrew, Dean of the College of Human Sciences & Education, said the minor courses derive from multiple disciplines. Those disciplines range from sociology to political science to theatre. This is to help examine LGBTQ issues through multiple lenses, including race, religion, class and disability. “Everyone claims multiple identities, and it’s that intersectionality that adds to the richness and complexity of who we are as individuals and communities,” Maccio said. LSU is not the first university to institute a LGBTQ-related program, the addition of the minor represents progress for the university.

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