<p>Recently, at a gathering of friends, one woman mentioned in passing that her nephew was gay and that he wanted to attend a Catholic college. Someone wondered out loud whether any Catholic university would be friendly toward a gay student.</p>
<p>Many of the people at the gathering had attended Catholic colleges, including myself. We all had various reactions as to whether our respective alma maters would be welcoming toward gay college students.</p>
<p>A couple of the people in attendance said that a lot, but not all, Jesuit colleges would be gay friendly.</p>
<p>Some of the women in the discussion said that many of the formerly all-women's college would be a lot more friendlier to gay students that the historically men's college would be.</p>
<p>Someone else suggested Catholic colleges with strong programs in the fine and performing arts would be gay friendly as would urban Catholic institutions.</p>
<p>So, I thought I would ask you for your opinion. Are there gay friendly Catholic colleges? Or are Catholic colleges and universities unlikely to cross those in the Church hierarchy.</p>
<p>Any comments would be welcome. My friends are awaiting your views.</p>
<p>I generally found the Georgetown faculty and students very tolerant of different religions and sexual orientations. However, that does not mean the administration is "gay friendly" or that gay students can be as outwardly gay as they would on more liberal campuses like say Brown, Cal, Columbia, Cornell, Michigan, NYU, Oberlin or Reed.</p>
<p>I don't know much about other Catholic schools, although organizations such as the one provided in the link above are not common on most Catholic university campuses. I do not recall ever hearing of a gay student organization at BC or Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Actually, I go to BC and we have various gay student organizations... such as Allies, GLBT (gay lesbian bisexual transgender) organization, the GLC (gay leadership council). These groups publicize acceptance and recently actually sponsored vaious events for a "coming out week"</p>
<p>lol...what an oxymoron...let's be honest here. There may be small subgroups of tolerant individuals at these universities, but nearly all strongly religious-sponsored universities are against homosexuality, as most religion view homosexuality as a sin.</p>
<p>You're very welcome. I never said that such groups didn't exist on campus, but the religious institution of Catholocism itself does not exactly, shall we say, "encourage?" tolerance of homosexuality. There are exceptions, I understand, but then again, that's also straying from a true traditional Catholic school.</p>
<p>Several sexuality issues reveal the gigantic divide between theory in practice in the Catholic Church. It sets high standards regarding birth control, homosexuality, and abstinance. But I think most Catholics understand that these are ideals that are established as targets, and nobody is very shocked when the targets aren't reached.</p>
<p>I am curious why this student would be seeking a Catholic college that is gay friendly. I can easily understand that a gay individual might chose a college that is Catholic for all kinds of reasons (academic programs, geography, athletics). But I sure don't get why someone would be actively looking for a college whose fundamental tenets classify them as a sinner headed for Hell.</p>
<p>drb: I'm not speaking for the OP, but think about it:</p>
<p>A person has many characteristics, and is not solely defined by his/her sexuality. I'm quite conservative, but I could see going to a liberal place like Brown, because 1)they teach non-political things there, 2) maybe I could learn something from them, 3) maybe they could learn something from me. Not very long ago Black students enrolled in the U of Mississippi, U of Alabama, and U of Georgia, even thoug the governors of those states and lots of students at those states weren't very thrilled with integration.</p>
<p>As one of my friends puts it like this: "My Catholic background is as much a part of my identity as my sexual orientation. One cannot ask me to separate one from the other or give up one for the other."</p>
<p>Loyola (Chicago) is very gay-friendly indeed. In fact, straight guys here say "I love you" to each other all the time, and I don't even do that to my gay friends. It's simply different going to college in a major city.</p>