College provides safe space for 'fat-identified' LGBT students

Montclair State University offers a “weekly discussion group” exclusively for LGBTQ students who are “fat-identified.”

The discussion group, colloquially referred to as “F.A.B.” (“Fabulous and Big”), is just one of several identity-related discussion groups put on by the school’s LGBTQ Center, some of which are “open to anyone" while others are described as "confidential spaces designed solely for people who share the identity of that specific group.”

[RELATED: Kent State offers minorities-only orientation, mentorship]

According to the school’s description, the “Fabulous and Big” discussion group is open to all “LGBTQ+ individuals who describe themselves as bigger-bodied, fat-identified, plus-size, chubby, [or] thick” to “discuss issues relevant to the community, examine intersections of identity, and discuss experiences.”

Similarly, the LGBTQ Center will offer a weekly discussion exclusively for “queer and/or trans people of color” to “explore their identities and the intersections between race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”

[RELATED: UMN safe space for ‘same-gender-loving people of color’]

Notably, of the 10 discussion groups offered by the LGBTQ Center, only three are open to all students, with the remaining seven being “closed to anyone who does not share the identity of that group.”

Campus Reform reached out to the LGBTQ Center for additional comment on the matter, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski