Your sexual orientation on your college application?

In a historic move, Elmhurst College has become the first university in the United States to include in their application a question about minority status regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. The college already asked questions regarding ethnic identity, language spoken at home, and religious affiliation. As with other identity questions and minority statuses, it was up to the student to decide whether or not to answer the question.
While some students might find this question either intrusive or inappropriate, to those I say don't answer the question. Any person is well within their right to choose not to self-disclose. Any person as an individual has the right to hold a position that is contradictory to that of inclusion or view the inclusion of this question as contradictory to their beliefs about LGBT people. Publicly however, people are people. If a person's college experience can be enhanced with a community that values their diversity, I am all for it.
Fall 2011 was the inaugural application term for the new application with the question about LGBT status. Being a skeptic, I wondered if this was just a marketing ploy. Elmhurst is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, a Protestant Christian denomination. The Chicago suburb of Elmhurst is located next to Wheaton, a suburb that houses another Christian university. Unlike Elmhurst, the university in the suburb of Wheaton requires students to sign a community covenant that condemns homosexual behavior.
For LGBT and questioning students, this can be problematic to say the least. LGBT students have to reform their identity to comply with university standards. For questioning students, this can provide a hindrance for those students to explore their identity. From what I have read on the Elmhurst College website regarding the inclusion of this question as well as other things that Elmhurst College has participated in such as a college fair at the Center on Halsted (Chicago's LGBT community center), I don't think this is just a marketing ploy but an honest effort for diversity inclusion.
Unlike many other forms of diversity, LGBT status is not as visible. With this question on the Elmhurst application, the student who decides to answer the question can be provided with information about resources that may be of interest to the student as well as information about scholarships that promotes diversity. Many times LGBT students can get lost in the mix or become an underrepresented minority.
I hope that more universities move towards this model of diversity for the LGBT community. While LGBT status is still considered a controversial topic in this country, I think that universities, especially those who promote the liberal arts and social justice, should work harder for LGBT visibility and inclusion.
Although the city of Chicago, an ideal setting for many LGBT students, is just a stone's throw away, many students decide to either stay closer to home or find that the suburban campus is a better fit. LGBT voices need to be heard, especially in suburban and rural settings, and a decision like the one Elmhurst College made for their application to allow those students to be vocal in their expression of identity and minority status provides a model for that to happen.