<p>i don't think being concerned about this issue is asking for "special priveleges" at all. far from it, i just want to be able to feel welcome in my own home, since that's what your dorm is. since a lot of people really do dislike or fear gays, or more commonly just think there's "something wrong with it," i think it's not a bad thing to take into consideration? and what about the part of the form where it says "is there anything else you think we should know?" the campus life people probably do want to make sure people get a good dose of diversity, but i don't think it's fair to ask that at the expense of personal self-esteem or mental health or feeling of security, which, if your roommate hated you for something you couldn't exactly adjust to please them, would be an issue. you can liken it to skin color and say that it's not good to base things on skin color and it would be horrible if people asked for a white roommate or a black roommate, but isn't it legitimate to feel more comfortable around non-racist people if you feel you would have to worry about discrimination based on ethnicity or skin color (which is probably less likely than homophobia to happen on most college campuses any way, if you ask me). with being gay, it's not like that. sure, you can't change skin color or sexual orientation, but when you throw sexual orientation into the mix, things are usually completely different. it's not just matters of adapting to other peoples' culture or living with someone whose skin is different (which, let's face it, shouldn't be that difficult, i hope). there's this whole matter of gender politics thrown in, and it's not very understanding to just be like "oh, well if we give these gay kids homophobic roommates, well it's just their problem to work out." that's a pretty unforgiving attitude...</p>
<p>"Housing forms do not ask about sexual orientation (or homophobia, for that matter). Also, some people don't really decide they are gay until after they have already started college. It is not feasable for dorms to consider this in housing assignments."</p>
<p>Oakes College on the UC Santa Cruz campus sounds "gay-friendly."
<a href="http://oakes.ucsc.edu/indexpage.htm%5B/url%5D">http://oakes.ucsc.edu/indexpage.htm</a></p>
<p>"...a community which seeks to overcome social oppressions which result in restricting access or opportunity on the basis of race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, age or class."</p>
<p>UCSC probably provides housing and/or learning environments that are sensitave to sexual orientation. </p>
<p>I had a gay roommate in summer school between 11th and 12th grades way back in the day, but since he wasn't interested in me and was pretty much in the closet, his personal life was never an issue.</p>
<p>nextyear, don't worry about first semester or freshman year for that matter, just get acclimated to college life in general and concentrate on finding compatible roommates for 2nd semester or sophomore year.</p>
<p>But do be careful, because there can be homophobic, violent people on campus. Don't do stupid things on or off campus!</p>
<p>Many schools have Single dorms. Its a Little more expensive, this may be a good option for you guys if you are willing to spend a little more money.</p>
<p>and you can only use the self defense gig if somebody attacks you there buddy</p>
<p>I am closing this thread after removing many off topic and terms of service violating posts. Since the question, however, is important to many, I have attempted to leave replies that provide different, helpful, non TOS-violating viewpoints and information.</p>