“We have always existed at Morehouse. We have always existed in the AUC,” said Jordan Freeman, a senior early childhood education major at Morehouse College. “The difference now is that we are documenting it.”
Freeman, who co-leads Adodi, Morehouse’s LGBTQIA+ registered student organization, described documentation as an act of protection at the esteemed all-male college. He said archiving queer presence through student programming and digital storytelling ensures that history can’t be erased, especially as students navigate policy rollbacks and national debates surrounding queer identity.
At Morehouse, Adodi focuses on building celebratory space as much as safety for its 30 members. Freeman said the organization, which launched in 1995, encourages students to exist beyond a singular image of a “Morehouse man.” Visibility, he said, has grown through students choosing to live openly and support one another. He described mentorship as central to that work, emphasizing the importance of helping younger students recognize their own power and possibilities.
Across the Atlanta University Center, students are not waiting to be welcomed into HBCU history. They are creating it themselves.
Three student-led organizations anchor much of that work: Adodi at Morehouse, Afrékete at Spelman College, and BLAQ at Clark Atlanta University. Each group serves a different campus while sharing a broader mission to affirm Black queer identity at historically Black institutions.
Support in the classroom
At Spelman, Afrékete is a “Black feminist and queer collective that centers scholarship, identity, art, and community,” Co-President Naima Starr said. Through reinstated committees and programming, the organization creates spaces that are “intentional and dedicated to what the community needs,” with a clear goal this year: “to just keep us safe.”
Still, their work unfolds within an institution that is “still conservative,” Co-President Essie Alexander said, describing “a disconnect in what a Spelmanite “should be” versus the “multiplicity of Black womanhood.”
For trans students in particular, “the structure of a quote unquote, all women’s institution can feel very binary,” Alexander said, which “isolates a lot of students.” While Afrékete works to create an affirming space, they emphasized that meaningful change also requires institutional support.
Academic spaces also help shape how students understand their identities. Dr. Briona Jones, the Audre Lorde visiting professor of queer studies at Spelman, said classrooms can become places where students connect personal experience to broader political realities.
“The classroom becomes a sacred space,” Dr. Jones said. “Students are aware of how difficult it will be to live as out queer people once they leave Spelman, but they are encouraged about their role in liberation.”
Kennedy “KR” Rogers, a junior political science major, said taking Jones’ course on Audre Lorde, a renowned poet, author and activist, transformed her relationship to scholarship and self-understanding.
“It allowed me to intellectualize my existence,” Rogers said. “To be affirmed in an academic space was one of the best experiences I have had here.”
Finding affirming care
While counseling support looks different across the AUC, students at Morehouse and Clark Atlanta described leaning heavily on peer networks and student organizations when navigating identity, mental health, and belonging.
Pamela Walton, associate director of counseling at the Spelman Counseling Center, said affirming care begins with allowing students to show up fully as themselves. The center works to ensure queer students feel safe bringing every part of their identity into counseling spaces.
“We want students to know they do not have to edit themselves when they come into the Spelman Counseling Center,” Walton said.
Walton said counseling conversations often include identity, belonging, family dynamics, faith, relationships, and the broader political climate. She said clinicians approach those discussions with humility and care, recognizing that students are the experts on their own experiences.
“You deserve affirming care,” Walton said. “Building trust matters, especially when talking about vulnerable parts of yourself.”
She added that identity-affirming workshops, group spaces, and partnerships with student organizations help extend that support beyond therapy sessions and into everyday campus life.
“At the end of the day, our goal is simple,” Walton said. “We want queer students to feel seen, supported and like they belong here.”
Students across the AUC said that whether through formal counseling or informal community spaces, affirming care that often begins with being able to show up without explanation
Navigating Greek life
For some students, visibility can also be found within Greek organizations. Havilen Autry, a graduating senior economics major at Spelman College and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., said entering Greek life as a masculine-presenting lesbian challenged common assumptions about sorority culture. She said sisterhood has meant being embraced for her individuality while still honoring tradition.
“People love you for being you,” Autry said. “You just have to be comfortable being yourself.”
She added that visible queer members help expand what a Spelman woman can look like, particularly for students who do not see themselves reflected in stereotypes surrounding femininity.
Mya Spencer, a senior economics major at Spelman and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., said her experience as a queer woman has shaped how she approaches vulnerability within sisterhood. She said being open about her identity has made her more intentional about creating spaces for others who may not yet feel ready to express themselves openly.
“I try to be more open and vulnerable with others because some women might not know how to express their identity yet,” Spencer said.
And by showing up authentically, Spencer said she’s found ways to redefine expectations and the stereotypes surrounding Greek life that often clash with assumptions about sexuality or presentation.
“Just being my true self and not trying to look a certain way changes how people see what Greek life can look like,” Spencer said.
She added that seeing queer women visibly exist in historically Black sororities helped her imagine herself in those spaces without feeling pressure to hide parts of herself.
“You can be in these spaces and still be your true self,” Spencer said. “You do not have to hide to belong.”
Across the AUC, queer visibility within fraternities reflects a similar negotiation between tradition and individuality. Terrance Evans, a junior communications and education studies double major at Morehouse, is a gay man and member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. He said his approach to masculinity within Greek life centers on authenticity rather than performance.
“Everyone knows I am going to be me, regardless — unapologetically me,” Evans said.
Evans, who serves in a leadership role within his chapter, said fraternity culture often carries assumptions about Black manhood that do not always leave room for complexity. Navigating those expectations, he said, requires confidence in one’s identity while still honoring the organization’s legacy and public image.
“Be known as Terrance, the Sigma, not the Sigma Terrance,” Evans said, emphasizing that individuality should never disappear behind Greek letters.
He said outsiders often misunderstand queer members of the Divine Nine organization, assuming they do not belong in traditional spaces.
“We are just the same as any other Greek member,” Evans said. “Just because we do not fit the stereotype does not mean we do not belong.”
A parade full of pride
At Clark Atlanta, BLAQ works to make its queer community visible both on campus and across the AUC.
President Raniah Corrian, a senior psychology major, described the organization’s annual parade during BLAQ Week, which coincides with Atlanta Pride celebrations in September. Students walk across campus holding signs that read “We are here,” a public affirmation of presence and belonging. Corrian said the organization focuses on building safer spaces for incoming students who may be searching for community.
“Visibility is powerful for students who are still figuring out where they fit,” Corrian said. “When they see us taking up space together, it reminds them they don’t have to navigate campus alone.”
Students across the AUC described their campuses as evolving environments where queer life is increasingly visible.
At Morehouse, Freeman pointed to policy changes and growing acceptance of diverse gender expression as signs of progress shaped by student advocacy. Organizations like Adodi continue to foster community through book clubs, discussions on Black queer health and conversations that connect present students with earlier generations.
Their stories move between campuses, forming a shared narrative that refuses erasure and insists on possibility. History has never been straight, and within the AUC, it continues to be written in real time by the students who choose to live it openly.
This story has been updated.
Finley Warren is a junior political science major attending Spelman College. This article is part of Capital B Atlanta’s journalism partnership with HBCU reporters.
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