If you’re planning on attending a public university or community college in Oregon in the near future, be warned that you may be asked about your sexual orientation by the school.
A committee in the Oregon state senate is currently debating a bill that would make it mandatory for community colleges and public universities to question students and staff about their sexual orientation.
The bill would require public universities and community colleges in the state to list questions about one’s sexual orientation on forms used by the school to collect demographic data. Prospective and enrolled students, as well as school faculty and other staff members, would all be asked to disclose the information.
Answering the questions, however, is completely optional, and the data would be used solely to collect information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students to help universities and colleges better address issues that they may face on campus.
The bill came about after an Oregon State University graduate student, Steven Leider, was conducting research on information surrounding LGBT students and found that there was little data on college campuses about LGBT students. Leider proposed the idea of the bill to Rep. Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis), who then sponsored it in the state house.
The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 40-19 on April 17, was not popular among some Republican lawmakers, however, who took to the House floor to debate the implications of passing the measure.
“I don’t think my children need to be subjected to it when they attend school,” Rep. Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg) told the Salem Statesman Journal.
He also added that he thought that questions about sexual orientation is information that should be kept private and not asked in public universities.
“Without standardized data collection, Oregon colleges and universities won’t be able to accurately assess and appropriately address the experiences of LGBT students, faculty and staff,” Dave Coburn, the Associated Students of Portland State University Legislative Affairs Director, said in his testimony to the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development during a public hearing on the issue earlier this month.
If the bill passes the Democratic-leaning state senate and is signed into law, Oregon public universities and community colleges will be following in the footsteps of the University of Iowa and Elmhurst College, both of whom already ask prospective students about their sexual orientation.
