Mentioning LGBTQ Identity in Personal Statement for PhD Applications I'm currently applying to grad school to do a PhD in physics in the United States. I would really like to mention in the personal history statement/diversity statement essays: 1) the work I did in my undergrad to create a safe, informal community for other LGBTQ students in my department and 2) how it's a future goal of mine to be an openly gay professor (having an out-and-proud academic role model would have been very valuable to me, even though that may sound ridiculous*). 

Is it prudent to mention my orientation in these essays? Or am I just asking for trouble? 

My identity is very important to me as is the work I have done/plan to do to make academia a more accepting environment, but at the same time, I am scared that I will be risking my chances of getting into grad school by mentioning what's still considered a very 'controversial' issue by many people. Hope this question is appropriate for this forum, and thank you in advance! 



(Edit 11/25) Note these statements are not the statement of purpose (which is entirely academic) but rather extra essays requested in addition to the statement of purpose. UC Irvine gave advice here about these essays as: 


  Write about your contribution to diversity in your Personal History Statement or Diversity Statement of the graduate application, if there is one. If there is no Personal Statement or Diversity Statement, then include a paragraph about your contribution to diversity and diversity activity in your Statement of Purpose.
  If appropriate, briefly explain what obstacles you have had to overcome and how
  that shapes what you aspire to do in your future career. This has been found to be an accurate measure of future success, dubbed grit.
  Describe any contributions to increasing diversity in the Personal History
  Statement or Diversity Statement. Discuss specific things you may have done
  (mentoring, tutoring, Physics or Astronomy Club president, etc.) that have acted to broaden the participation of women, minorities or other underrepresented groups.You could also discuss what you would do at the institution you are applying to improve equity and inclusion there; for example, start a graduate women in physics group or lead outreach events. Be sure to read up on what programs already exist at that institution.




*To explain just one example of why it would be useful to have an out instructor, I was subjected to explicitly homophobic criticism by one instructor at my undergraduate institution. I did not complain because I did not know whom I could trust, but if there had been an instructor who was out/even out as an LGBT-supporter/ally, I would have felt comfortable complaining about the harassment.
Edit (in response to revised question): 

In light of the revised question, this sounds like exactly the sort of thing they are asking for, so yes feel free to talk about L, G, B, T, Q and X.  However, my guess is that whatever you write here won't make too much of a difference (as long as you don't make yourself sound crazy or anything), for the same reasons I indicated in my original answer.  

Original Answer Below (where it sounded like this was about a personal statement):

Unless they are asking specifically for you to address diversity issues, I don't think it matters much what you say about LGBTQ issues in your personal statement, as it has nothing to do with physics.  Note: depending on the department and admissions committee, the statement of purpose may be important or not important (e.g., Why do admissions committees consider the Statement of Purpose to be important? and How important is the statement of purpose in a PhD application for admission to a top school in the US?).

What I look for in a statement of purpose (in math, which I imagine is similar to physics) is basically what I look for in the rest of the application: your preparation for grad school, your talent and work ethic, your interests/fit with our program.  Though it also helps to get a sense of your personality (so it's not good, e.g., if you sound like a crackpot).  

I don't think the issues mentioned in your question reflect too much on these things.  On the other hand, I don't think it will hurt your application if you want to briefly mention at least (1) and possibly (2) if you can weave them in naturally, but these things shouldn't be the focus of your personal statement, as they say nothing about why you want to go to grad school.  (Certainly your CV is a suitable place for (1), so it can make it onto your application there.)  Academia is relatively LGBTQ friendly in my experience.  However, we don't want to know your whole life story on your application, just the part of your story related to (in your case) Physics.