LGBTQ+ advocacy group releases list of 'worst' college campuses for queer students

Nearly 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. have policies in place that perpetuate harms against their LGBTQ+ students, the nonprofit Campus Pride said Thursday in releasing its 2022 “Worst List,” a record of campuses considered risky for queer students to attend.

Thirteen colleges and universities were added to the group’s annual ranking, bringing the total number of campuses deemed “unsafe” for LGBTQ+ youth to 193.

To appear on Campus Pride’s “Worst List,” a college or university must have applied for or received an exemption to Title IX, which prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. A school must also have a “demonstrated past history” of actions, programs or policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, according to Campus Pride.

Three campuses were added to this year’s “Worst List” because they requested new Title IX exemptions that would allow “open discrimination toward LGBTQ+ people,” Campus Pride said Thursday, and five were added because they chose not to uphold Title IX protections toward any student by refusing federal funding.

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