<p>Very self explanitory.
I come from a Liberal town in NJ and have been openly gay for a few years. I am very interested in applying to wash u, but due to distance, I was not able to visit it.
I visited schools like Vassar and Wesleyan and saw a large gay presence on campus, and I was wondering if anyone could comment at all about gay life/number of gay students at wash u?</p>
<p>any information would be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>The GBLT isn't as predominant at Wash U as it is at Wesleyan (can't speak for Vassar, I didn't visit/apply there). However, it's far from a stigma. Moreso than the Wesleyan approach of having this kind of gay "community," at Wash U you're moreso treated as just another individual (this may be a good thing or a bad thing for you). That being said, the administration does set up specific so-called "safe zones," especially in the beginning of the year, and there are clubs/organizations/communities for the GBLT community - just not as emphasized as Wesleyan's. FWIW, I'm straight and not affiliated with any of the GBLT organizations/communities on campus, so someone with more experience in that community might be more aware of these things than I.</p>
<p>^^^^Other than allowing a woodframe house to become a designated gay residence, I'm not sure what you mean by a Wesleyan "approach" to the gay community. Students created their own GBLT organizations, not the administration. Are you alluding to the fact that there <em>is</em> a community?</p>
<p>I can say as a gay student at WU, the community is very welcoming here. the gay community is very supportive and we have lots of organized functions through Pride Alliance and Safe Zones if that's your dish. The general community is very accepting and it's never really an issue. I've been incredibly happy with life at WashU as a gay student.</p>
<p>While surely Missouri is not a gay friendly place to be, college communities in general tend to be pretty accepting. Being gay in Missouri would make me terribly afraid of attacks and hate crimes, but it is probably not as bad as I am imagining.</p>