“We are still here”: LGBTQ+ students navigate campus life after SB1

By Connor Nagy/Kent State NewsLab

The queer community at Kent State University continues to express itself, even as new policies reshape speech and life on campus. 

In March 2025, Ohio Senate Bill 1 was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. It eliminated DEI programs at public colleges and universities, regulating course content and placing restrictions on how faculty can address so-called controversial issues. The legislation is part of a broader effort by state lawmakers to change how public universities operate and regulate classroom instruction. 

The months that followed brought the closure of Kent State’s identity centers, including the LGBTQ+ Center, and the discontinuation of the LGBTQ+ Living-Learning Community in Korb Hall. 

For some students, the panic set in immediately. 

“I remember being in class and like we were talking about [Senate Bill 1] and me and some other students were just in tears,” said Raina Hubbard, a senior musical theater major. “We were so emotional about what it means for the safety of certain students.”  

Hubbard’s concerns were not uncommon. Queer students across campus expressed similar fears, wondering how the bill would limit their abilities to express themselves openly and safely on campus. 

“I thought the absolute worst of [Senate Bill 1] and thought I wouldn’t even be allowed to hold hands with my girlfriend in public,” said Annabelle Dufek, a sophomore majoring in Theatre Studies and American Sign Language. “But I realized they can only limit us so much, and that we can make of it what we can. Fighting back is all we can do.” 

While policy changes have primarily affected university-sanctioned safe spaces, the broader campus climate has shifted in noticeable ways, students said.

Hubbard said they feel the new campus policies have emboldened some people, who now seem to believe they have a free pass to act without consequences. They added that many queer students have experienced harassment outside of the Center for the Performing Arts since the bill’s passage. 

Cole Skillman, better known on the drag stage as Cabaretta, said the impact of SB1 became visible in his daily life. He noted moments where he was followed to his car, yelled at in the streets or had his shows protested. 

“It took a while for me to be able to build the confidence that I have to be myself, and I feel like most queer people can relate to that,” Skillman said. “And [hateful behavior] kind of makes you second-guess yourself.”

With campus attitudes shifting, LGBTQ+ student organizations have taken on the support role the LGBTQ+ Center once held.

Xander Dotson, the social media coordinator for PRIDE!Kent and Trans*fusion, used to spend much of his time in the LGBTQ+ Center He is now trying to create a similar safe space for queer students in its absence. 

“A lot of people thought that the queer community was just kind of wiped off of Kent State’s campus. That none of us would be operating without them,” said Dotson. “We are still here, and we are doing everything we can to make our community aware of that.”

While a collective sadness followed the bill’s passage, it was quickly followed by a collective effort to remain resilient in the face of adversity. For students like Dufek, self-expression has become a form of resistance. 

“I think my self-expression has probably expanded simply due to being told we can’t be ourselves,” Dufek said. “I’ve fought too hard for the love I have for it to be worth nothing.” 

Students like Dufek have made active efforts to not only maintain their queer expression on campus, but to enhance it as a means of protest. 

For Skillman took a similar approach, prior to the passage of SB1, he did little to connect his drag persona to his personal identity, but that line has since blurred, despite the target he feels it puts on his back. 

“Drag queens are, like, leaders in the queer community,” Skillman said. “And when the queer community is under attack, the leaders have got to stand up.” 

Dotson said members of PRIDE!Kent & Trans*fusion are among those encouraging queer students to remain headstrong, spreading a message of unity and strength. 

“I think what I hear the most is that people are afraid of what the future holds for them,” Dotson said. “I can’t guarantee that the laws or the societal view on queer and transgender individuals will start to turn in a better direction. What I can do is commit myself to making the community feel safe and happy within my own reach, and hope that our joy inspires others to persevere.”

This story was originally published by the Kent State NewsLab, a collaborative news outlet publishing journalism by Kent State students.