After it was introduced in spring 2023, the LGBTQ+ living community in Newing College has been up and running for the past year.

Located in Delaware Hall, the community is open to first-year and returning undergraduate students who identify as LGBTQ+ and provides students with a welcoming and supportive environment by connecting them with others who identify similarly. All students live on the same floor in a traditional hall with corridor-style doubles and gender-inclusive bathrooms. The community currently houses around 11 students, allowing them to form tight-knit bonds while being encouraged to freely express themselves.

“Being a small community all in the same hallway, made for people with the same goals (meeting queer people and allies, working on initiatives to make queer people at Binghamton visible), I’d consider it a safe space due to our common experiences and interests,” wrote Clarissa Covey, an undeclared freshman. “One would think that a small and concentrated ‘gayborhood’ would be a target for hateful activities from bad-intentioned people outside the space, but so far I have never experienced or heard about anything like that.”

Planning for the LGBTQ+ Living Community began in 2021 after Residential Life leadership met with Anne Guanciale, the then-director of intercultural affairs, and Nick Martin, the then-Q Center assistant director, who is now the center’s associate director. Creating the new living community was a key factor in boosting Binghamton University’s rating on the Campus Pride Index — designed to measure LGBTQ+ inclusivity at colleges and universities — with BU recently scoring a 4.5 out of five.

The living community is in partnership with Residential Life and the Q Center, which serves as a “home away from home” for students to express their gender and sexuality. They offer educational opportunities, including presentations, workshops and a community-based library, to cultivate a safe environment for those who identify with different sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions. The Q Center promotes on and off-campus resources for queer students, including the Student Success Center, Pride and Joy Families — a family planning organization for queer people in upstate New York — and local queer-friendly spaces.

“I have found at my time at the Q Center, that many first-year students find it difficult to communicate and get along with other queer students,” wrote Mansha Rahman, a student manager at the Q Center and a junior double-majoring in art and design and Spanish. “This is completely understandable, however, I have found that the LGBTQ living community has really benefited many of the individuals that participate in it. I personally know individuals who have lived in the community, and are living in the community this year, and I have seen how much the LGBTQ living community has helped them grow as queer individuals on this campus. The graduate student assistant Eddie Stakelum is a great part of the reason the community has succeeded.”

The Delaware Hall community will collaborate with the Q Center in organizing events throughout the year, where students will have the opportunity to attend LGBTQ+ History Month events, dinners, educational programs and community-building activities. In the community’s hallway, a bulletin board lists information about the upcoming events being held, Residential Life staff and community guidelines to ensure a safe and accepting space.

Students living in the community are excited about the new space where they can feel accepted and free from judgment, according to Covey. The close-knit nature of the living community and the connection to local queer groups allows students to easily find people they can relate to and form friendships with.

“There are people who work at the Q Center who coordinate within the living community — our GA, for example,” Covey wrote using an acronym for graduate assistant. “The Q Center acts as what I would call an ‘auncle (combination of aunt and uncle) organization,’ as it doesn’t exactly have authority over us, but is related in terms of function, has some higher-up status and supports us in our mission and projects. However, we have not had any collaborative projects just yet; this is my understanding so far.”