<p>I am a junior in high school and I am starting to get ready to apply to colleges. I am an openly gay male and I am seeking a college near a big city (Los Angeles) because big cities tend to have larger gay communities. I was wondering what the gay community was like at Occidental. Is there a big or small gay population at the college? Are students open-minded and accepting of other gay students? I was also wondering if students left campus a lot and went into the city? Do students go to the beach at all? If yes, how far is it away? Any responses would be great. Thanks!</p>
<p>I was just at Oxy this past weekend, and I can tell you that there is a very prominent gay community and it is widely accepted. Actually, one of the professors whose class I sat in was gay and so were at least two of the other students in the class (very small class). I think you would have no problem being a gay person at Oxy. </p>
<p>As for the leaving of campus… I didn’t feel like there was a lot of that going on. I’m sure some people do, though. The thing is that Oxy is surrounded by a residential community, so there isn’t that much to do close to campus. If you or someone you know has a car, you would be in pretty good shape if you wanted to leave campus (you need a car to get around in LA). However, as I mentioned before, most people stay on campus.</p>