Hi! I’m an incoming freshman at Delaware State University for the fall semester. I am an Mid-Level Science & Math Education major. I came out as gay mid-senior year of high school to my family and some of my close friends, and that made me feel much better and relaxed because they are very supportive of me (I even had a relationship with one of my friends who came out about a year earlier, but we broke up because he’s going to college in California).
However, when I went for orientation, I hardly knew anyone there, and I hung out with a couple girls who are LGBT friendly, but there is not a whole lot of them (there are more students, but I didn’t get to meet them all). I am afraid of being rejected if I do come out to everyone I’m around because of homophobia, but I want to enjoy college as being as open as possible (not just being gay, but also my interests in art, dance, socializing, etc.)
What should I do? I really appreciate some advice before I move into my dorm next month.
Is there a LGBT student organization? Maybe you could try to get in touch with them before school starts.
My D1, who just finished her freshman year at college, identifies as asexual. The first thing she did was to go online during the summer and find the campus LGBTQ+ organization. Since most organizations have a booth at some point during welcome week, she was able to hook up with them right away. If your school doesn’t have this as part of welcome week, just utilize the contact information online. They were an invaluable source of help, comfort, and friendship for her. Good luck!
Well if the response you got in high school was fine, I don’t see why it would be any different in college.
It might be even easier now – meeting someone for the first time, just as you are, vs. changing the opinion of someone you already know. Plus, you have the freedom to avoid people who prove themselves to be small-minded.
My campus has like 800 clubs and there are several LGBTQ+ related. As NerdMom and mstomper said, check out your options!
UPDATE: I contacted the college. no LGBT club 
Wow. That’s rough. The campus is in Dover right? There must be some LGBT organizations in the city. You could contact one or two of those. With any luck, there will be other students involved with those groups so you’ll have an informal network. Worse case, you’ll have an off campus support group.
Once you’ve found a community group, maybe they can help you start a campus organization? Most schools are pretty supportive of that. D1’s campus group has events a couple of times a year with community groups and nearby campus organizations.
You don’t have to go big; just see if you can get a small group started!
UPDATE: I contacted the wrong office. I contacted my admissions counselor instead of the student activities. My counselor keeps tabs on most clubs, but forgot the Gay-Straight Alliance. Anyway, gave them a call, and they are eager for newcomers.
Oh that’s such good news. After you’ve settled in, you might want to see if you can help the GSA get a table/booth/presence at next year’s orientation.