Marina

Senior Marina Khan, who is asexual and nonbinary, found a supportive community at Algonquin that she lacked at her previous school.

Khan came to Algonquin as a freshman after attending a private Muslim school where she says many people were homophobic.

“I had told a bunch of my friends there that I was questioning, and one of the girls told me that I need to look to God and I need to basically suppress [my sexuality],” Khan said.

At Algonquin, however, Khan found allies to the LGBT community and feels that her identity is accepted by both students and faculty.

“I came to Algonquin thinking that I was going to be a freak, so when I found out that I wasn’t, it was so nice because I was like ‘Oh my god, I’m not alone,’” Khan said. “People don’t hate because of something that I literally cannot control.”

Despite the support she has found, Khan is sometimes hesitant to talk about her identity because she is afraid it might be received poorly.

“I say I like boys and girls, so a lot of times people will assume that I have no morals or I’m confused,” Khan said. “People will tell me to pick something or they’ll assume that I’m a slut.”

Khan finds it difficult when these assumptions prevent her from speaking about who she is.

“You’re surrounded by people who seem very happy to see you…but you know if they found out about this specific part of you, they wouldn’t be so happy,” Khan said.

At lunch her freshman year, Khan heard people mocking different gender identities, an experience that has stuck with her.

“They were talking about all the different types of nonbinary and saying that they don’t exist and basically saying that there are only two genders,” Khan said. “It made me feel like they’re not very open. They don’t really know what they’re talking about.”

Khan believes that a large part of the problem lies in the fact that many students are uneducated about the LGBT community, which she wishes were incorporated into the Biology curriculum.