I remember being nervous as I sat there with my study abroad advisor. It was our final meeting. After months and months of meeting for advice on figuring out where I wanted to study, looking over final applications for programs and scholarships, helping me to get all of my forms and vaccines in order, it was our final check-in before I would be on an airplane to Tanzania. "There is one last thing," I nervously piped up after we'd gone over all of the checklists. "I...I'm kinda nervous about having a girlfriend while I'm abroad." Holly and I had only gotten back together in the last month of school, and I had only recently started thinking about what it would mean to have a girlfriend in a country that has a language without a word for lesbian and where male homosexuality is illegal--there was even a case of a European man being deported! None of this was going to stop me; I figured that our once-a-week phone calls would be private enough, and that I could pass off the picture of the two of us I kept by my bed as a picture of my "friend." Mostly, I couldn't believe this was a position I was actually in. I felt a lot of anger about having to step into a closet I had never even had to be in for that long. But, I also knew this was just part of the experience, one more opportunity in cross-cultural learning. And in the end, it made me grateful for the ability to be out and proud and makes it only that more important to create safe spaces for LGBTQ people.

I had never mentioned my bisexuality to my study abroad advisor before, and I was nervous about how she would field the question. Luckily, she was immediately supportive and helpful. And, much to my surprise, she told me that she was also bisexual. I could not believe it. We wound up talking for much longer than my appointment about bisexuality. As it turns out, there are a lot of resources out there for LGBT people who are thinking of going abroad and a lot we can get out of abroad experiences. Carleton College has a list of 10 Reasons Why LGBTQ Students should study abroad, suggestions for LGBTQ Students studying abroad, and an extensive list of print resources that are all very helpful. NAFSA: Association of International Educators has a website dedicated resources for LGBTQ issues in studying abroad. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association has put together this great map that highlights LGBTI Rights around the globe.

There are even a few study abroad programs that focus on sexuality and gender, such as The School for International Training's International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender program in the Netherlands. You can do a Spanish language intensive that focuses on gay and lesbian life in Mexico through the Cetlalic School. The University of Maryland has a program in Trinidad and Tobago on Gender, Sexuality and Globalization and you can study Sexuality in France through the University of Delaware.

Does your school's international center have resources for LGBTQ students? Do you think twice before considering studying abroad because of your identity? Did you study abroad and encounter any issues because of your identity? Did you learn more about being LGBT because of an international experience?