<p>Emilybee: what a great, clearly articulated policy. </p>
<p>Sally: agree. </p>
<p>Riprorin: viewing the college world through such a prurient lens doesn’t credit to how students can and should be learning and growing in school. I lived in co-ed dorms and houses in college and it was fine. Nobody would have dreamed of starting anything with a housemate because it would have jeopardized the functioning of the housing arrangements.</p>
<p>American University has gender neutral housing after freshman year. My D is currently in an apartment with another straight female and 2 gay males - but the makeup is constantly changing depending on who is one study abroad and who gets a summer job, etc. None of the girls mind sharing a bedroom or bathroom with the men and vice versa. Their biggest issue is cleanliness and, sometimes, the guys are cleaner than the girls. </p>
<p>I understand that some people might not want to room/share an apartment with the opposite sex, but I’m quite glad that there are options. My gay son would much rather share a room with a girl than with a homophobic straight man. That being said, he doesn’t really care if his roomie is straight or gay - not his issue.</p>
<p>I think this thread has gotten a little off topic. OP, at this point, has a specific group of schools she is questioning…the ones her S has applied/been accepted. What is helpful to her is information about these schools. I’m sure they may all fall in differently on the gay friendly spectrum and it would be helpful to have others in similar circumstances to share aspects they considered.</p>
<p>Having said that, it is then up to OP and S to figure out the balance and where he fits best (same with all our kids). It may be that academically and financially the best fit is one of the schools that is not at top of gay friendly list but is in OP and son’s comfort zone. I don’t have a gay child, but my input is based on knowlege of USCarolina and it’s honor program and to encourage them to judge it on merit and not by location. Sounds like availability of single rooms may be a bonus for them. OP, good luck finding the perfect school for your son.</p>
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<p>I apologize for making this sweeping statement. I think what I should have said is that you would be “less likely” to find a gay friendly school in the south compared to some other areas of the country. I’ve heard that Guilford and the New College of Florida are gay friendly. I don’t actually consider Miami, FL to be part of the “south.”</p>
<p>Campus Pride has come up with a list of their top 25 LGBT friendly colleges. None are located in the south. That is not to say there are none. You just don’t tend to see them come up on the lists.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what consenting adults do in the bedroom has to do with this discussion. There were a lot of boys spending the night on my all girls floor back in the 70s, so I don’t think same-gender housing does much to curtail that “stuff that goes on in the bedroom”! After the dorms I lived in house w/ 4 guys but did have my own bedroom. I had a boyfriend-who did not live ther- and he was OK with it. I can tell you for sure that nothing went on in the bedroom with me and those roommates, but we had a great time as just roomies.</p>
<p>It isn’t like gays haven’t been rooming with straight people of the same gender for the last 100 years at colleges. They have… just a lot of people didn’t know their roommate was gay. I bet 99% of the time it is not an issue, at least in terms of the gay person hitting on the straight person. No one wants to hit on or make things awkward with someone who is not interested in them (straight or gay), IMHO. I am certain my D would not want to. The only difference now is that the gay student may be more open about it. But this situation has been going on since dorm rooms began.</p>
<p>Good luck to the OP in helping her son find an environment where he feels comfortable and accepted.</p>
<p>I thought being gay referred to sexual practice. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
<p>What? It refers to a preference for relationships with people of the same gender. But just like I (female) certainly do not find every male I meet attractive (probably about 1%!), every gay person does not find every other person of the same gender attractive. And I certainly don’t have much interest in dating someone who does not find me attractive, for whatever reason. Not sure what you are saying…</p>
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<p>University of Miami is a great place for young gay men. Besides the university being very accepting of gays there is a large gay presences in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The region is diverse in every way. There are people here from every corner of the globe, practicing every religion you can think of, living every lifestyle you can imagine, with every shade of skin.</p>
<p>The south isn’t exactly the way you perceive it to be.</p>
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<p>If Miami is not in the south where is it located?</p>
<p>Here are the southern colleges with a Campus Pride rating of 3 stars or higher that are in southern states. 3 stars qualifies these schools to be on Campus Pride’s honor roll.</p>
<p>Emory (GA)
Washington and Lee (VA)
NC State
Louisville (KY)
Kennesaw State (GA)
NC
Wake Forest (NC)
George Mason (VA)
Virginia Tech
Mary Washington (VA)
Tulane (LA)
Vanderbilt (TN)
Rollins (FL)
GA Tech
Eckerd (FL)
U of Central Florida
East Carolina
Virginia
Eastern KY
Morehead State (KY)
U of NC-Wilmington
Georgia
Georgia Gwinnett
Tennessee
U of North FL
U of Central AR
SC
Appalachian State (NC)
James Madison (VA)
VCU (VA)</p>
<p>I will repeat the south is not what you perceive it to be.</p>
<p>I don’t think most people think of Miami/Ft Lauderdale as being a part of the deep south. I know I certainly don’t having spent time there since I was a wee child. It’s got a much more eclectic population with a majority having come from somewhere else.</p>
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I grew up openly gay in the south, and in the 24 years I spent there, I never had a bad experience. Quite the opposite, in fact. Most people were extremely supportive. Southerners are generally very warm, friendly people, and this is especially true on college campuses (which tend to be liberal anywhere) and in urban areas. </p>
<p>That said, all southern universities are not equally tolerant…for example, Duke and UNC are some of the most gay friendly colleges to be found anywhere in the country, but NC State only a few miles away is less so. I think most southern colleges are at least “tolerant” of LGB people, but southern colleges range from grudging tolerance of a few openly gay students to nonchalant/full acceptance of a large and thriving gay community (e.g. UNCA has been accused of having more gay than straight men, and the city of Asheville itself is nearly as lopsided). It really depends on personal preferences - I generally feel right at home on a southern college campus, but a gay man from NYC may not. You have to investigate each college and decide if it’s right for his needs - some people need more support, acceptance, and community than others. </p>
<p>USC is not known for being particularly LGBT friendly, but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out without sufficient investigation. As for the city of Columbia, a gay friend of mine wound up there for an internship and found a fairly small but welcoming gay community. I think the best thing to do is to contact the LGBT group on campus and get opinions of LGBT life at USC. It is always best to get information directly from the horse’s mouth.</p>
<p>[LGBT</a> Resources | OMSA at USC](<a href=“Office of Multicultural Student Affairs - Office of Multicultural Student Affairs | University of South Carolina”>Office of Multicultural Student Affairs - Office of Multicultural Student Affairs | University of South Carolina)</p>
<p>Of his options, Penn has a fantastic LGBT community, and their LGBT center and support stuff are wonderful. BU is also a great option. I’m less familiar with U Miami, but I think he is likely to be fine there as well. As Proudpatriot said, Miami has a very large gay community.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I think it’s great that you’re such a supportive parent!</p>
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<p>riprorin, if you really think young adults need to be living under the same roof to find each other for their sexual fulfillment, you are more naive than I thought.</p>
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<p>Yes. But for some reason, those who are homophobic seem to think that every gay person is automatically going to be drawn to them. I have never understood such thinking.</p>
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<p>Well, we hadn’t been using the modifier “deep” before “south” until now. But even so, if you take out Texas (which is sort of its own entity, in my opinion) only ONE of the schools on the Princeton Review list would be in the south.</p>
<p>As for Miami/FTL having people from somewhere else–that is true. But sometimes “somewhere else” means the Florida panhandle, Georgia, SC, Alabama or other places one would think of as more typically southern. Growing up in Miami (and still returning often to visit my family in South Florida) I have often been struck by how traditionally southern it can seem in certain areas and circles of people. Most of the “old money” in Miami, for instance, is very “old south” too.</p>
<p>Ok. Just doesn’t strike me that way at all - at least not in the areas of SFLA I am familiar with.</p>
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<p>I want to make it clear that I absolutely love the south! I wholeheartedly agree that most southerners are very friendly. Most of my relatives live there. My husband and I will probably retire to the south. One of my relatives who lives in a mid-size town in SC is gay (but not openly). He lives in a a community that is predominantly religious conservative. He has never felt comfortable letting people know that he is gay. He has led a sad and lonely life in this town, but never left because that is where his family is. He has shared stories of being rejected by others in his community. He is almost 50 and will probably never leave. I often wonder how he may have blossomed if he had chosen to move to a more welcoming community.</p>
<p>emilybee, assuming you have mostly been to Miami as a tourist, that’s no surprise. Most people think of South Beach or Key Biscayne or possibly Coral Gables when they hear “Miami.” But Miami is a vast city that extends west toward uninhabitable cypress preserves and south toward rural Homestead. Once you get outside the more affluent areas, much of it feels very southern, even “redneck.” I went to a private high school at which several kids had pickup trucks with gun racks and Confederate flag decals on them. At the same time, few American cities feel as cosmopolitan as parts of Miami do.</p>
<p>Fort Lauderdale (more people there would just say “Broward,” which is the county) is different again from Miami. There are a lot of Miamians who have migrated north, but there is also a diverse international population and people from all over the U.S. In addition to plenty of suburban sprawl there are also more rural areas, including a large equestrian community. I have lived a lot of places but there is really nothing “like” South Florida anywhere, at least as far as I have seen.</p>
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<p>A relative of mine used to live in Miami. It’s almost like living in a foreign country in many ways. It’s nicknamed “The Capital of Latin America.” About 70% of the population is of Latino or Hispanic descent. That’s why I don’t consider it be a part of the south although it’s geographically located there.</p>
<p>It’s funny how a lot of good libbies here are so judgemental.</p>
<p>If you don’t share their world view then you are a “homophobe” and you look at the world through a “prurient lens”.</p>
<p>If it wasn’t so sad it would be comical.</p>
<p>“emilybee, assuming you have mostly been to Miami as a tourist, that’s no surprise”</p>
<p>Not really a tourist. My grandparents had a home on Bay Harbor and I have been going down since 1957. My parents have lived there for years - first part time and the last 20 or so full time. They have lived in several places from Miami Beach, to the Palm Beach area and now Ft. Lauderdale. I have family (permanent residents for 50+ years) all over SFLA. </p>
<p>I am very familiar with the whole area - even Homestead. I have been going there so long there wasn’t even a “west” then. It ended at the Turnpike. 95 wasn’t completed either. </p>
<p>I believe I described the whole area as eclectic, which, imo, is an accurate. description.</p>