Meghan Shaw is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus.

From the era of Ronald Reagan to the present day with Donald Trump, policy making regarding minorities, specifically the LGBTQ+ community, has had a rough history. Guest speakers Zane Carey and Lynne Alexander came to the Rainbow Center this Thursday to lay out the story of what has (and has not) been done to work towards equality for the community.

Carey and Alexander covered topics such as the HIV/AIDS crisis that devastated millions of people and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which protects against discrimination and harassment in the military for closeted LGBTQ+ people, while excluding people who are not closeted from serving. They also talked about marriage equality and its implications, as well as other policies that caused setbacks for the community.

“I hadn't heard much about the HIV/AIDS crisis before, and its surprising that something that impacted so many people isn't something I learned about in history class,” a student who wished to remain anonymous said. “Anything we heard about it made it seem removed from our lives, but seeing the effect it had really put it in perspective.” Read more via Daily Campus