CHARLOTTE – Campus Pride, an organization that works for LGBTQ acceptance on college campuses, has dropped four schools from Florida and Texas from their “Best of the Best” list.
The schools, the University of North Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Tech University, had previously ranked high on the list of the most LGBTQ-friendly schools in the country. The schools were removed from the list because of anti-LGBTQ laws passed in Florida and Texas this year.
“Campus Pride issues a ‘red alert’ warning to prospective students and families that the excluded universities’ 5 star rating will inevitably go down,” said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Mendez Windmeyer. “New laws in Texas and Florida effectively require colleges and universities in the state to cease LGBTQ+ inclusive programs, services and policies. Students and families must exercise caution in choosing to go to college on any public Florida or Texas campus.”
Campus Pride said in a statement that they could not recommend the excluded universities on the Best of the Best list. The four campuses still appear on the Campus Pride Index (CPI) with their respective star ratings, along with others from the two states. The organization anticipates that when colleges update their profiles on the CPI this year, the new restrictions will result in lower ratings for all Florida and Texas colleges and universities because of the new laws.
Each school got 5 out of 5 stars on the CPI.
Families and individuals have been fleeing states with new anti-LGBTQ laws. Independent journalist Erin Reed has reported that between 130,000 to 260,000 trans people have already fled restrictive states.
Know a useful resource?
Share it with your community!
We aggregate links that connect to resources across Illinois. If you know of a site that should be included or want your website listed, please submit it!
