Week of February 14th: Love and Citizenship

This past week, in line with Valentine’s Day, Team Kenan couched on the topic of Love and Citizenship. Specifically, we wanted to focus on LGBTQ+ rights and presence, and hear the experiences of Duke students on the nature of romantic relationships at Duke more broadly. 

We asked students what their opinion was on Duke’s “diversity” question, which asks students to share a perspective or experience related to “a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background”. One student opined that it felt strange to point-blank ask people about their identity and that it seemed to be a very transparent way of getting at diversity. They did note, however, that they appreciated that it was an optional question. 

When talking about LGBTQ+ rights in general, some participants noted how protection was patchwork despite the national supreme court ruling and also pointed to North Carolina transgender bathroom laws in general as how delicate and recent these rights were.