Columbia values an open, affirming, and welcoming environment for all our students.
We are proud that nearly one-third of our undergraduates who’ve chosen Columbia in the last four years have self-identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These students come to us from all over the world. Some come from communities where they’ve been able to live openly in acceptance, while some arrive at Columbia and find their first opportunity to live as their authentic selves.
Our alumni shape what’s next in creative industries and use their voices and talents to share the LGBTQ+ experience and perspective.
To those who support and/or identify with the LGBTQIA+ community: We see you, we stand beside you, you are valid, you are valued, and we embrace you in all your humanness.
To see our diverse creative community and their accomplishments, check out a clip from Manifest, and watch last year's video from the Chicago Pride Parade.
Shape What’s Next.
Overall enrolled students who self-identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community
(She/They/Theirs)
Director of Programs at LGBT Tech
“Columbia gave me the tools and space to embrace my identity and was the first place where I felt empowered as a queer neurodivergent student.”
(She/Her/Hers)
Music Technology Major
“As a queer, biracial woman, I don’t have to censor myself at Columbia. I’m allowed to be as expressive as I want, as artistic as I want, and as gay as I want.”
(He/Him/His)
Assistant director, career center
“I get to show up as my authentic self each workday in a place I feel safe and supported. Columbia creates a space that allows its employees to show up whole.”
(He/Him/His)
Creative Writing Major
“I had to fight for who I was for so long but when I got to Columbia I didn’t have to fight anymore, I could just be.”