Living with an LGBTQ Roommate

As a society, we are becoming much more aware and sensitive to the cultures and the lifestyles of others. One of the best places to learn this is at our many diverse private boarding schools here in Utah. Lately, the LGBTQ community has been receiving a lot of attention due to the acclimation of the countries opinion to their lifestyle as well as the awareness for their rights. Because this is a relatively new issue to arise, a lot of people, particularly teenagers at Utah’s private boarding schools are unaware and underexposed to these types of situations and are often not sure on how to handle themselves in situations regarding political correctness with different lifestyles.

What Are Acceptable Questions

One thing that parents try to teach their children from the beginning is that everyone is equal and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. This is no different with people of the LGBTQ community. It would no longer be surprising to have your child be assigned to a roommate who is of that community. All that is important to know is that they are like everyone else and should be treated as such.

LGBTQ qualities are not a disease and because of that, there should be no reservations to talking about it. Your child should feel free to ask questions about the lifestyle in order for them to gain more insight about it and become more cultured. After all that is one of the main reasons for attending one of the many diverse private boarding schools here in Utah

What Topics to Avoid

As open as we think that we are as a society, we still have a lot of prejudice and reservations about a lot of things and the LGBTQ community does continue to have a lot of hot button issues surrounding it. These are the types of things that might be best left out of initial conversation. Like politics at the dinner table, there are just some things that don’t need to be discussed due to differing opinions or different choices of lifestyle.

Basically what is most important is that your child gains exposure to different types of people all over the campus and learns tolerance and respect for all people regardless of who their roommate is. By doing this they will not only gain a good education in Utah’s private boarding schools, but valuable life skills that will continue to benefit them throughout their life.

Tyler Davis is an academic writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Wasatch Academy. Follow on Twitter.