Dear Journal of Public Health and Practices editors,
Thank you for the helpful comments on our submission “Perceptions of Mental Health in the LGBTQ+ Student Community: Needs, Barriers, and Access”. We appreciate the careful review provided by both reviewers and have made every effort to be responsive to their suggestions and critiques. Below, we summarize the nature of our revisions to “Perceptions of Mental Health in the LGBTQ+ Student Community: Needs, Barriers, and Access”. I have attached/uploaded a revised copy of the paper, which includes track changes, to facilitate re-review. I have also attached/uploaded a copy without any changes tracked, for your convenience.
Reviewer 1
Comment 1 (Show the trend for the past decade. What are the numbers? What is the % change from a decade back to now?)
Response: Over the past ten years, the University of Memphis has increased its LGBT campus support by implementing Title IX legalities, training, and having a Title IX coordinator position on campus. For instance, LGBT students can use their preferred names in the classroom and other university settings which was not the case ten years. Safe Zone training became more available to student groups, faculty, staff, and external groups. The Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs has also hired and included more LGBT representation in its programming. As a former University of Memphis undergraduate and graduate student, I was involved in on-campus LGBT research groups, a former member of Stonewall Tigers, and a public health professional who regularly collaborated with various departments on campus via volunteer or internship opportunities, LGBT cultural humility training, and other LGBT events. Examples were provided instead of numbers due to access and availability issues.
Comment 2 (How are they identified?)
Response: Students were identified via on-campus networks provided by LGBTQ-identified or allied faculty, staff, and LGBTQ groups who shared the online survey. The survey was marketed as a need assessment for on-campus LGBTQ undergraduate and graduate students who were current students. Focus group participants were selected based on the snowball technique via the president of Stonewall Tigers and electronic flyer promotional efforts
Reviewer 2
Six additional references were added about anti-LGBT legislation, on-campus counseling centers, and LGBT practice in higher education to name a few.
Discussion and limitations sections were added to provide more content about anti-LGBT legislation and how it could impact college campuses, particularly LGBT students’ mental health.
Identifying and attempting to improve the on-campus mental health resources for LGBT students via the needs assessment’s findings were discussed. The limitations section was included to detail the areas of improvement and drawbacks of the needs assessment.
I will serve as the corresponding author for this manuscript and can be reached at
Department of College of Health Sciences
University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee 38152
We thank you for your consideration of this manuscript and look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Sincerely,
Martavius L. Hampton