Extended Inquiry Project Proposal I have decided to do my extended inquiry project on the LGBTQ community at the University of North

Carolina in Charlotte. Since there are so many students that may openly identify with this group and there are many who may do so but choose to keep that a private matter, I will be specifically observing and interacting with the members of the on-campus PRIDE club and with people that I may come in contact with in relation to them. With this project, I am hoping to answer some questions that I have personally wondered, mainly dealing with stereotypes, their presence in the lives of LGBTQ members, and how those stereotypes affect them. For instance, I will be asking questions like: Do members use specific terms to refer to themselves and others? Is some terminology controversial? What terms are appropriate and what are not? Is the atmosphere in certain places, like gay clubs and bars, more stereotypical? What stereotypes do members find to be the most harmful? What stereotypes, if any, are used among members themselves? Do they face outright discrimination often, whether because they are out or because they seem stereotypical in any way? I also hope to delve in to how LGBTQ members feel about living in todays society, especially here in Charlotte compared to a smaller town. What places are PRIDE friendly, and how often do members go to these places? Do they still give their business to establishments like Chick-fil-A, or is it an issue that they differ on? Religion is something I really hope to address along with the aforementioned ideas. I would like to see how many members still go to church, even though it is a very controversial subject in the church community. How do LGBTQ members break religious stereotypes, and how do they feel about the church? Do they themselves believe stereotypes against most church-goers? And do they represent themselves differently in LGBTQ-friendly or based churches than they do traditional churches? All in all, I hope to discover more about how thoughts on gender, sexual orientation, marriage, and showing pride, coming out, and accepting oneself affects the LGBTQ community, their family and friends, and heterosexual or non-labled allies in todays world.
Comment [J2]: I think this is an interesting angle to look at. Its not looked at all the time. Comment [J1]: Those are good questions to ask. Will it be easy to observe these?