Editor’s note: Because Delfin Bautista does not identify with one gender, the non-gendered pronoun “they” is used.
For LGBT students, coming out can be a daunting process, especially when it could mean being cut off financially and emotionally from family and caretakers.
Tom Hodson, director of WOUB and a former Post Editor, and Jan Hodson, former assistant dean of the Honors Tutorial College, have started a fund to help support LGBT students in need.
The Tom and Jan Hodson LGBT Support Fund was created for students who might have been cut off financially from parents or support systems because they have come out as LGBT. The fund was created to encourage students to be who they are and own their identities.
Jan said in her former position, she saw numerous cases of students who were ostracized for coming out.
“I was the assistant dean for 14 years,” Jan said. “Every single year, I would see students that had difficulty within the whole area of coming out to their parents. … It’s really sad when you hear some of these stories, when they’re afraid to go home and tell their parents who they really are.”
Tom and Jan both said they have found a generation gap between the current college generation and their own as far as acceptance of LGBT people. They both consider themselves allies to the LGBT community and want to make an impact.
“We wanted to give a safety net for these students that would encourage them to take on their own identity, to be themselves, to be able to come out to their parents, knowing that there would not be dire…financial repercussions,” Tom said.
The fund is used at the discretion of Delfin Bautista, director of the LGBT Center. The Hodsons have entrusted Bautista with starting conversations with students in need and finding ways to help out, such as helping with bills or buying groceries.
“We’ve made a lot of progress as a movement and a community but kids are still being kicked out of their homes, and by kids I mean college students,” Bautista said. “It is an issue still, despite all of the progress…people are still being marginalized and in different ways.”
Bautista said by being a part of this fund, they hope to let the community know that someone is looking out for the LGBT students.
“They may never meet the Hodsons, but just knowing that these two individuals have very graciously just shared part of themselves, that they may never meet the individuals that they are helping, but it sort of fosters a sense of solidarity and community in a place where one can feel lonely,” Bautista said.
Wanting to encourage individuality and identity amongst students, the Hodsons hope their contribution can make an impact on students’ lives and allow them to serve as role models for others who wish to contribute and understand as well.
“I see LGBT rights as…the civil rights cause of the 21st century,” Tom said. “I think that it’s incumbent on people who are open in their thinking to support the civil rights movement in any way and this is a way that we can support directly and help people that advance their own personality, their own identity.”
Donations for the fund can be made through contacting The Ohio University Foundation at 800-592-FUND or giving@ohio.edu. Online gifts can also be made online at www.ohio.edu/give, by entering “Tom and Jan Hodson LGBT Support Fund” into the “Other” box.
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