Alejandra's participant observation
As a key component of my research, I conducted participant observation to get a better sense of the LGBTQ+ experience at UF. This included casual conversations with people, and observations from different events. The first enlightening conversation I had went as follows:
I got to speaking with the girl that sits next to me in one of my classes before class started. Though we only know each other from speaking for a few minutes before class starts every day, we typically have good conversations. She looked to be about my age and was wearing a crop top and shorts. Her hair was in space buns, and she has star shaped hair clips pinned to the side of her head. She was saying that one of her biggest issues with Ben Sasse was that she felt like his presence would lead to increased intolerance and homophobia. She said that she felt like the culture of the school felt relatively safe and accepting now, but that she was worried things would change once he became president. She said that she identified as bisexual and was worried for herself and her friends. From this I concluded that some LGBT individuals feel hostile towards Ben Sasse and are worried about what is to come.
Another insightful conversation is described below.
I was talking to my roommate, we were sitting in the kitchen of our apartment and got to having an interesting conversation. She mentioned how she rarely sees people she knows in person from campus or anything school related on dating apps. She recently switched her dating apps to just women and was surprised that she was seeming fewer people that she knew, as opposed to when she was seeing men on the app. She is not involved in many LGBT+ spaces, such as the Pride Student Union, and this could be a reason for this. After hearing this I hypothesized that because the UF campus and student body is so large, it may not be conducive to the fostering of a unified, singular community.
My friend said that he did not feel comfortable tailgating at the frat houses. I assume this is because they are perceived to be not the most diverse or welcoming group.
Described below is an unexpected insight.
I was warned against continuing text conversation with a man I had met at a party the night before by my friend. The man is a UF student. Part of the reason my friend told me I shouldn’t get to know him is that she had heard that he used the phrase, “that’s so gay” even though he is straight. From this I have concluded that much of the UF student body have no patience for intolerance.
As I was going about my daily activities I noticed this:
UF Gatornights has announced in their most recent Instagram post that they will be showing the hit movie, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” at the Friendsgiving Gatornights event on November 18th. Prior to this, there was an Instagram poll asking which movie should be shown at the next Gatornights. “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” was the only movie on the options list featuring a gay main character and was the one that was ultimately chosen students. From this I have concluded that much of the student body as at the very least, tolerant, (if not supportive) of LGBTQ+ individuals.
A casual conversation with my friend gave me a very interesting perspective.
I had a movie night at my good friend’s apartment. When I got there, she began telling me about her day and how stressful it had been. She said that she attended a “Republican Club” meeting with her roommate because her roommate had contacts in the club from her business internship and therefore felt like she had to make an appearance. My friend said that she had naturally been reluctant to go to the meeting as she does not support this ideology but that it had been even worse than she thought it would be. She said that, aside from her, there has been no people of color or gay people at the meeting. She said during the meeting, she had felt very uncomfortable and angry. She said that by the end of it she was fighting the urge to flip everyone in the club off. She was horrified at the thought that her roommate might be secretly a republican. This depicts common student assumptions about the Republican parties views on LGBTQ+ members.
Finally I observed what I would believe to be one of the most important sources of information for this topic, the Pride Student Union. I observed the Pride Student Union’s Instagram profile and Instagram comments to get a sense of what the online community and dominant culture and sentiment are like:
The UF Pride Student Union’s Instagram is followed by many other student organizations and clubs, which I believe implies that these organizations, at the very least on the outside are supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. A few of the student organizations that follow @UFPSU are UF college democrats, UF Women’s Student Association, UF Hispanic Student Association, UF Gatornights, UF Hoopz, UF Rec Sports, UF Dominican Student Association, UF Hillel, and UF Inter-Residence Hall Association. This seems to indicate to me that UF Campus is largely supportive and inclusive of LGBTQ individuals across different groups. There are not many comments on most of the posts. The posts themselves are all. Very colorful and pretty and informative. The UF Pride Student Union’s bio says that it strives to “provide love and education to the LGBTQ+ community and its intersections.” This to me implies that the UF Pride student union is committed to diversity and strives to be a very warm and welcoming group of people to all.
