While universities and colleges have come a long way in helping lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students feel accepted, some say there's still room for improvement.
While the region's campuses have made great strides in promoting equality and creating a positive environment for the LGBT community, both students and staff say there's still more to be done.
Adam Garcia of the University of Waterloo's LGBT group GLOW says he'd like to see a bolder show of support from the school's administration.
"During Coming Out Week, during Pride, you don't see news releases or press releases from the university saying ‘This is what's going on, this is what our students are doing and this is what we take pride in at our community.'"
University of Waterloo student A.Y. Daring says making changes now will have a big impact in the future, "Once those individual attitudes have changed, then you can dial up to that cultural level where you do have each person contributing to something greater than themselves."
Changes are starting to be made at many schools, including those that have dealt with issues surrounding attitudes towards the LGBT community.
Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers University, committed suicide in 2010 after he was secretly filmed in a sexual encounter with another man, and the video was posted online.
This fall, the New Jersey school will have three dorms where male and female students of any orientation can share rooms.
There's no word of similar plans in Waterloo Region, but Dana Gillett, an employment equity and AODA officer at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) says the administration is open to new ideas.
"There's always room for improvement for sure. Our philosophy is to provide a really organic approach so we're looking at: What are the new resources we can offer? How can we tailor our programming, add additional programming so that we're meeting the needs of our current students."
Brooke Young is a project coordinator at OK2BEME: OUT In Schools, a free, confidential service for youth questioning their sexuality or gender identity.
She says future LGBT students need an academic environment that just accommodating, "I think what we need to do is create a community or a culture that celebrates diversity, instead of just tolerating it or putting up with it."
For more information please visit:
UW GLOW - http://knowyourglow.ca/
Laurier Rainbow Centre - http://waterloo.mylaurier.ca/rainbow/info/home.htm
Laurier Centre for Women and Trans People - http://waterloo.mylaurier.ca/womens-centre/info/home.htm
OK2BMe - http://www.ok2bme.ca/
A.Y. Daring - http://www.aydaring.com/
