Gay Dating at Rice

<p>One of my biggest faults with Rice is there seems to be a limited amount of gay students. I know that Rice is extremely liberal/open/non-caring/etc. but when it comes to actually dating, how many gay students are in a relationship?</p>

<p>As you’ve noted, Rice is an accepting place. You’ll find that there is a limited number of LGBT students nearly everywhere, though, not just at Rice. To answer your specific question, I don’t think there are data that tally the number of gay students who are in relationships. There was a poll a few years ago by Open Magazine that may have given a hint, but I don’t recall the figures. It would be interesting to find out, though. Still, based on my empirical observations, gay students do involve themselves in relationships at Rice - heck, a guy even proposed to his boyfriend at the annual charity drag show a few weeks ago. My guess is that they do so to an extent that mirrors the larger Rice population. </p>

<p>For more information, you can contact someone from Rice’s LGBT student support group, Queers and Allies: <a href=“mailto:pride@rice.edu”>pride@rice.edu</a></p>

<p>Hope I’ve helped!</p>

<p>[Open</a> Magazine, Vol. 3](<a href=“Open Magazine, Vol. 3 | PDF | California Proposition 8 (2008) | Sexual Intercourse”>Open Magazine, Vol. 3 | PDF | California Proposition 8 (2008) | Sexual Intercourse)</p>

<p>Is this what you’re talking about? I’ve also seen another survey with a similar theme, but I couldn’t find that one.</p>

<p>Yes, Runallday, that’s it. Thanks! Ibfailure, if you check out the Open Magazine issue that runallday linked to, it shows survey data from 2010 on pg 8. There’s also a link I found to the 2009 one: [Open</a> Magazine (spring 2009)](<a href=“Open Magazine (Spring 2009) | PDF | Homosexuality | Domestic Partnership”>Open Magazine (Spring 2009) | PDF | Homosexuality | Domestic Partnership) . </p>

<p>The 2009 survey provides percentages. In it, about 11% of Rice students self-identified as non-heterosexual (ie 5% homosexual, 5% bisexual, 1% other). A friend of mine who worked for Open said this percentage masks persons who report as heterosexual, despite having same-sex attractions and experiences, because they may not be comfortable admitting anything otherwise. Other revealing questions answered by self-reporting heterosexual students in the survey support her assessment; she thinks the percentage is closer to 15%.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ricestandard.org/sex-the-demographics/[/url]”>http://www.ricestandard.org/sex-the-demographics/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Found the other one I was looking for.</p>

<p>@runallday4, What a great sleuth you are, sir/madam. haha This survey had an excellent response number of more than 1100 respondents, which is at least 30% of the student body. That percentage surpasses even Rice’s student voting rate (sadly). It’s interesting to note that, excluding self-identified asexual students, 13.3% of the respondents identified as non-heterosexual. This and the older surveys make me confident in estimating that the actual percentage of students at Rice who identify as such lies within the 10-15% range. I think this is greater than current estimates of the proportion of non-heterosexual adults in the national population. Hopefully, Ibfailure, that means there are relatively more opportunities here than elsewhere for someone interested in dating.</p>

<p>Haha, thanks, but I’m simply regurgitating things others have shown me. It’s sad that I’m still a high school Junior, I guess it just shows my obsession.</p>

<p>@runallday4, Well, if you’re currently a junior, that means you’re a rising senior who’ll soon be starting the admissions marathon. Having a head start never hurts! Have you visited Rice yet? If not, you should. I’m a current student and a host/tour guide. Feel free to PM me anytime.</p>

<p>@Ibfailure, One more thing. Rice recently dedicated a beautiful new garden located centrally on campus, called the Milus E. Hindman Garden. Mr. Hindman was a former Rice student who passed away a few years ago. He donated his entire estate to Rice for campus beautification projects. He loved Rice, and, for years before he passed, he would take regular strolls through campus with his partner of 44 years, Clavy Mason Matthews Jr. (who also donated most of his estate to Rice upon passing recently). </p>

<p>Here’s a link with a video of the dedication:[New</a> garden, sculpture a ?magnificent gift?](<a href=“http://news.rice.edu/2012/03/23/new-garden-sculpture-a-magnificent-gift/]New”>http://news.rice.edu/2012/03/23/new-garden-sculpture-a-magnificent-gift/)</p>

<p>I hope this story (admittedly only slightly related, haha) and the other things I’ve mentioned are at least a little bit useful in providing a better perspective on what you view as one of your “biggest faults with Rice.” Cheers!</p>