For Ashley Trebisacci, studying abroad was a life-changing experience. Her time at Oxford University expanded her worldview and helped her grow as a person — but more than that, she discovered her queer identity, and met the woman she now plans to marry.
We know a lot about students who study abroad. According to the Institute of International Education, in the 2015-2016 school year 66.5 percent were women, 2.5 percent studied agriculture, 11.1 percent studied somewhere in Asia. Yet there’s no hard data on how many identified as LGBTQ.
And for queer people, the decision to go abroad can come with some added questions: What’s the social and political climate like? Can they be out to their host family? Does the city have a queer scene?
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