<p>I echo most of the previous poster’s comments on gay life at Wash U, but will go into a little more detail. First, there’s “formal/organized” side of things, which revolves around the Pride Alliance group. They have meetings, talk about issues, and put on some events, notably “Gayla” which is an annual prom. I went last year as a straight girl and it was ridiculously fun and well-attended. They also put on another semi-formal dance, maintain an office with a library of books and media on GLBTQ issues, frequently bring in speakers to campus to talk about GLBTQ issues, and they typically put on an annual drag show. Wash U also has a GLBTQ student and student-group advisor. As a random anecdote, the annual male beauty-pageant/charity fundraiser, called Mr. WU, usually has a couple gay candidates who are nominated to compete in the show. </p>
<p>Second, there’s the “informal/unorganized” side, which is just LIFE basically. From anecdotal evidence, I’d be surprised if even half of the gay community at Wash U is regularly involved with Pride Alliance. Unlike high school (or, at least, unlike my high school), where it seemed you HAD to join the gay group to have any friends or talk about the issues, at Wash U it’s a lot more laid-back and accepting. There are quite a number of gay men in the fraternities. There’s going to be at least one or two on your freshman floor. You don’t have to be friends with anyone here because of a certain sexuality, which is nice. Wash U has a pretty fun and social atmosphere on the whole. I think saying “no one cares if you are gay” is a big misnomer. Rather, I’d say that for the most part, people DO care that you are gay, accept you for it, be your friend, and won’t take crap from anyone because you are. </p>
<p>As the previous poster said, as with any college campus, you might have a random ignorant wingnut, but I’ve never heard of any harassment or violence towards anyone based on sexuality at Wash U. Plus, when you’re walking around campus between classes with 5,000 other people, no one really can or would dare to just randomly make fun of you, you know? </p>
<p>St Louis is a pretty liberal city, so you’re not going to really find any prejudice in the areas around campus. The Loop is really diverse, and there’s a mini “boy’s town” area of gay-oriented clubs/bars/nightlife/restaurants/etc for after you’re 21 not too far from campus. The rest of Missouri (except Kansas City, another “blue” part of the state) is pretty conservative, but St Louis is a decently sized city with diversity. It’s not New York, but since you’re looking at Wash U, I’m guessing you want something a little more low-key than New York anyway. </p>
<p>One more thing that I think is pretty unique to Wash U: you can have mixed-gender suites as an upperclassmen in some of the dorms. So, if you have a 4-person suite, you can have 3 girls and 1 guy; 2 guys and 2 girls; or 2 guys, a girl, and a pizza place living in the same suite. This is only for upperclassmen when you can request your dorm/roommates… not in your freshman dorm. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! I’d contact Pride Alliance if you want more specific advice and anecdotes. You can find them by just searching the Wash U website.</p>