Choices for a gay student...

<p>^ it’s funny: when I was writing the quoted statement, I was actually going to mention BYU and the MRS degree, but decided against it. :p</p>

<p>I would like to emphasize how great Penn is. Sometimes, it is affectionately called the Jewniversity of Pennsylgaysia. While it may seem derogatory, it is a statement which indicates how prominent its Jewish, Asian, and gay communities are. I am a rising sophomore and have been immensely impressed by the universal support from professors and students alike, and the LGBT center organizes tons of events. Just as important, Penn is awesome for biochem (and biology).</p>

<p>

Yes. This is College Confidential, after all, a place with even less credibility than Quora.</p>

<p>Tenerc,</p>

<p>Your logic on that last statment isn’t working. While yes, anecdotal evidence is not always superb or representative of an entire population, etc. Phantasmagoric’s personal experience would be at least just as valuable as your source - for obvious reasons.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Well, I’d say they’re both about equal in credibility - they’re both internet sources, and there’s no reason for you to believe me over the person on Quora, or vice versa. My qualm was with your willingness to generalize based on a single data point. You went even further and asserted it has a “reputation” for a lackluster dating scene… and if it does, then pretty much all universities do.</p>

<p>We’re getting way off topic haha. In terms of dating scene I think many colleges are said to have a “lackluster dating scene” because once students get there they realize they would rather do hook ups. I’m sure at every college there is though, that there are people who do date. If you really are set on dating instead of hooking up you can find someone else to do that with.</p>

<p>For deciding which colleges are gay friendly I think an important thing that you have to do is define gay friendly.
Is it a school where there are rainbow flags covering campus, 1 out of every 3 guys is gay, and you can dress in drag and walk through campus without getting a second look?
Or is it a school where you can not be free to be gay, not have anyone discriminating against you/go out of their way to terrorize you, have a school administration that is accepting of different sexual orientations, have a bunch of other gay students, and have friends who don’t care what you sexual orientation is?</p>

<p>It really depends on the person for what level of support they’re going to need.</p>

<p>I’m not sure how much this will help the OP’s question, but:</p>

<p>My freshman-year roommate at UW was bisexual.</p>

<p>He and I were both out on the weekends, at different places. (except once – we ended up at the same party, and it was awesome – we talked to each other about his dude targets and my female targets, and fun was had.)</p>

<p>now and then he’d walk into our Sellery A room while a woman was there with me… and now and then i’d walk into our room when he was there with a dude or a woman.</p>

<p>Our thing was: knock three times, slowwwwwwwly.</p>

<p>We established that early on so that the discovered couple had plenty of time to cover up; nothing awful was seen (either way…), nobody was overly embarrassed, etc.</p>

<p>Straight and gay people rittle the world, and they are bound to come in contact with one another now and then. When it’s your roommate, just let common sense rule.</p>

<p>zedman – Wow. I’ve been gone for a few days, and this has become so heated. I wish you the best in your college search. I can’t speak to Notre Dame specifically, but I can say that you’re coming along at a lot better time than the gay people in my own generation. In the South, North, West, Midwest, wherever you are, you will find pockets of discrimination. However, the current high school/college generation THROUGHOUT the country really doesn’t care about sexual orientation. Our rural Southern high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance has its group picture in the yearbook right alongside the Future Farmers of America and the marching band. Guess what? This has not been a big deal. Even among my children’s friends who are more conservative on most other issues, the vast majority don’t care about whether someone is gay or straight. Even if their parents aren’t so accepting, they are – and they are our future. Hope you find a great school for you!</p>

<p>I’d recommend UChicago. It is a little above 5000 undergrad, has grad programs, a distinct and beautiful campus in Hype Park but very close to Chicago via public transport, a good Bio. program, and is LGBTQ friendly. There is a great LGBTQ office and many programs are offerred to assist students. I stayed on campus for a night in the dorms and two girls were dressing for the gender switching LGBTQ event that was going on that night. Everyone was helpful towards them and supportive etc.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>While that is largely (but not universally) true, the less LGBTQ-friendly attitudes common among those of older generations can still come into play. For example, consider school administration, faculty, people in the local area, police, judges, jurors, etc…</p>

<p>Also, some specific schools may attract students who are less LGBTQ-friendly than most college students.</p>

<p>zedman – Unless I’ve missed something, one thing that hasn’t come up is affordability. What can your family afford? Are you in state for one of the public universities on your list? Would Notre Dame even be within financial reach?</p>

<p>I’m not familiar with Notre Dame’s social environment, but I would be concerned about attending any university where (a) the university as an institution thought of me as kind of a second-class citizen, and/or (b) the students and faculty were not welcoming to me because of my gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. I think you need to talk with some Notre Dame students (gay and straight) to get their perspective.</p>

<p>If you are Christian, you may want to contact one or more churches on this website (sorted by state): <a href=“http://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/united_states/united_states.htm[/url]”>http://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/united_states/united_states.htm&lt;/a&gt; (It lists ten churches in South Bend alone.) Would there be plenty of community/church support for you as a Notre Dame student, even if the administration were not supportive?</p>

<p>I live in Ohio so, I would be able to afford that, also, my family can afford all of the schools listed above with little to no loans.</p>

<p>I’m not sure if I am comfortable about religion and being gay just jet, I am comfortable being gay and nonreligious but not being gay and religious.</p>

<p>Try American, GWU, or Georgetown. I’m bisexual (a guy), and I’ve been visiting these DC schools in the last few days. I’ve seen a lot of gay people, not only on the campuses, but in the city too. DC has a lot of gay people haha.</p>

<p>I noticed that too when i visited and bsolutely loved Georgetown when I visited, but Notre Dame had sentimental value that it is just ahead of Georgetown on my college lost but with all this testimony i might have to move it up to number one!</p>

<p>Ohio State, Oberlin make list of top gay-friendly campuses </p>

<p>[Ohio</a> State, Oberlin make list of top gay-friendly campuses - Columbus - Business First](<a href=“http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/08/21/ohio-state-oberlin-make-list-of-top.html]Ohio”>http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/08/21/ohio-state-oberlin-make-list-of-top.html)</p>

<p>Go Bucks!! lol</p>

<p>

Yes to all of those answers here. Openly gay, born and raised in the South (lived in three different cities plus visited many more), currently living in California.</p>

<p>As several others on this thread have said, you really don’t get much more gay friendly than UNC. It has an absurdly large gay population, very strong and popular offerings in LGBT and gender studies, an active LGBT center, annually hosts a conference for LGBT students from across the south, etc. Duke is likewise exceptionally gay friendly - probably a bit more so, in terms of its policies - and plays host to the NC gay/lesbian film festival, NC Pride, etc. I knew gay people at Duke from New York, San Francisco, Michigan, Texas, Boston, Maine, New Zealand, Florida, the UK…they pretty much all loved Duke and wouldn’t trade their experiences for anything. I’ve written enormous amounts of information on gay life at Duke and UNC before, however, so I won’t go into that again here. </p>

<p>Most of the South is perfectly fine for any gay student. When I lived in the South, I’d often walk around holding hands with my boyfriend or wearing a Love = Love shirt (or, probably worse, my shirt from the aforementioned conference that’s pink with a yellow unicorn). The only responses I ever got were “aw, that’s so cute” or “omg, where did you get that shirt?! I want one!” </p>

<p>Places like NYC, SF, LA etc. are certainly welcoming toward gays, but caveat emptor – the price you pay is often a surprisingly cliquish, catty, homogeneous gay scene. The gay scene here in LA is particularly unhealthy, in my opinion, and I’m happy to elaborate on this via PM. The South is a far more laidback, supportive, gregarious place.</p>

<p>As for the OP, you’d do well to be skeptical of comments from people without first hand experience. There are many posters on this site who undoubtedly mean well, but just because they have [token</a> gay friends](<a href=“http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/14/88-having-gay-friends/]token”>http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/14/88-having-gay-friends/) and pat themselves on their backs for their diversity and acceptance doesn’t mean they have something helpful to say.</p>

<p>You’d likewise do well to be wary of comments from people who’ve never set foot outside of West Hollywood, Greenwich, or Boystown for fear of being gay bashed. :rolleyes:</p>

<p>“You’d likewise do well to be wary of comments from people who’ve never set foot outside of West Hollywood, Greenwich, or Boystown for fear of being gay bashed” </p>

<p>In case that’s aimed at me, I have left Greenwich; in fact, I’ve lived in two different states in the south. </p>

<p>As I stated previously, the school itself may be friendly, but, from personal experience, I’ve had far more problems in terms of people’s commentary; general uneasiness, etc. during my years spent in the South. Unlike Warblersrule, the responses I’ve gotten to showing any sort of PDA in certain parts of the south were not anything like “aww” or “how cute”.</p>

<p>[Short</a> Registration](<a href=“LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges | The Princeton Review”>LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges | The Princeton Review) </p>

<p>Great rankings. Only 20, but good schools. You can also see the LGBT “unfriendly” ones. Notre Dame is ranked as one of those.</p>

<p>Where in the south were you, that makes a huge difference. There are plenty of small, conservative towns in the north that frown upon LGBT people as well.</p>

<p>I, for one, feel like I’m going to a gay-friendly college in a gay-friendly community. I’m sorry if you’re predetermined to feel otherwise.</p>