According to an article on college.usatoday.com, Louisiana State University has recently added an 18-hour-credit Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender minor program. The article states the university adopted the minor in an effort to stay competitive among the other universities who have dedicated minors, majors and entire departments to LBGT topics. 
The minor courses will range from a variety of disciplines including sociology, psychology and theatre.
The LSU Dean of the College of Human Sciences & Education was quoted on the website discouraging people from examining sexuality “in a vacuum.” The minor will encourage students to view LGBT issues through several perspectives: race, religion, class and disability.
Kimberly Kelly, assistant professor and director of sociology at Mississippi State University, said she admires LSU for showing such progression. 
“This is a very visible commitment by LSU to the rights, well-being, and equality of LGBT people,” Kelly said.
“I see us as several steps behind LSU in this regard,” Kelly said. “What I am interested in doing is expanding our course offerings in gender studies on LGBT issues, particularly with politics and identity. For right now, the logical way forward is to increase our course offerings and to also increase the presence of LGBT themed programing in gender studies.”
Since taking over as director of sociology three years ago, Kelly said she has organized several programs and activities to provide clarity on LGBT issues, including inviting transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox to speak at MSU last year and having Nicholas Guittar  speak at National Coming Out Day earlier this month.
Kelly said having the minor at MSU can offer something valuable to not only the LGBT students, but to all students. 
“Certainly, gender studies and LGBT studies are very theoretically rigorous. The kind of writing and deep theoretical thought that is required is an intellectual benefit to anyone who takes them,” she said. “It is also a social good that teaches people to think critically about how groups are different and more importantly, how they are the same. If people knew more about the struggles of LGBT people, then the similarities would become more apparent. When it comes to big stuff, we basically want the same things. It does not just apply to the group that is being studied, but it also offers a lot of social good as well.”
Emily Ryalls, assistant professor of communication and gender studies, said she admires LSU’s decision to offer a LGBT minor and wishes MSU could as well.
“I think it’s fantastic that LSU has started an LGBT minor, following universities across the country with similar majors and minors in queer studies and sexuality Studies,” Ryalls said. “From what I can tell, LSU was able to cobble together this minor with courses that were already on the books. To my knowledge, MSU does not currently have enough courses that deal with issues of sexuality.”
Ryalls said she realizes it would be a difficult task, but hopes MSU takes on the challenge in the future.
“I would absolutely love to see MSU develop a similar minor. To form such a program at MSU would take a bit more work. I hope it is a project that we can tackle in the near future,” she said.