Why would a university ask if our student is a member of the LGBTQ community?

Like many, we are working through applications this weekend and I was very surprised to see a large, public state flagship ask our son if he was a member of the LGBTQ community. Why would this be included in admissions? My knee jerk reaction was to run far away from any institution that would ask such a private question as part of application, a factor I can’t see connecting to a potential student’s talents, but my other half wondered if perhaps the school offers some kind of support for students coming to campus from marginalized gender/sexual backgrounds.

Could be used for housing, sending information about supports, or figuring out if they need to do more to support their community.

Someone else asked this question fairly recently but I couldn’t find it in the search function to try to link.

Found it by searching “sexual orientation”.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2157782-why-do-colleges-ask-sexual-orientation-p1.html

Thanks. Looks like we are not the only family scratching our head. I want to think there is a good side to this but am seriously perplexed why this is part of admissions. Seems like something for later in the process, after admission.

Closing repetitive thread. Further comments can be placed on the similar thread linked above.