<p>I am a homosexual male, and I am applying to Williams RD, but there's one thing about Williams that turns me off. I hear that there isn't that big of a homosexual scene at Williams, and recently there have been some open homophobia (homophobic slurs written on the walls.)</p>
<p>Would a gay male really fit in at Williams?</p>
<p>I think you’ll find prejudice lurking on any college campus. Don’t let that deter you from applying!</p>
<p>Yes, but some schools are more LGBT friendly. Wesleyan, for example, has a very liberal and eclectic student body, I hear. Is Williams overwhelmingly homophobic, or would a open homosexual fit in?</p>
<p>There are plenty of open homosexuals on the Williams campus, including senior members of the Williams administration. </p>
<p>Extensive coverage on last year’s incident here:</p>
<p>[Dennett</a> Graffiti : EphBlog](<a href=“http://www.ephblog.com/category/controversies/dennett-graffiti/]Dennett”>http://www.ephblog.com/category/controversies/dennett-graffiti/)</p>
<p>Your best bet is to apply widely and then visit.</p>
<p>Have you considered Vassar-totally gay friendly…Williams, not so much…</p>
<p>In my experience, Williams students (and faculty and administration) are overwhelmingly accepting and supportive, though there is a very, very small minority of neanderthals who say stupid ****. I really wouldn’t worry too much about prejudice at Williams. But you are right that there isn’t much of a gay “scene”, mosty just because it’s such a small, remote school. It’s not hard to do the math: there are ~1000 male students at Williams, and assuming they reflect the population as a whole, 3-4% of them are gay. Of those 30-40 gay guys, a few will still be in the closet for whatever reason, and some of the rest will already be in relationships, so the pool of available guys is very, very small.</p>
<p>I’m a recent (bi male) alum, and I know gay guys and girls who loved Williams, but mostly in spite of rather than because of the gay scene. It’s a fantastic school in a million other ways, it’s a beautiful place, and I miss it like crazy. But you do have to weigh all of the positives against the fact that you probably will have a more active love life if you go to a bigger, more urban school.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with Jeke (above comment). Not gay myself, but had a gay roommate.</p>
<p>Speaking as a gay freshman who was deciding between Vassar and Williams last year, I can assure you that the campus is in no way “overwhelmingly homophobic.” I can remember poring over my decision simply because of this prevailing prejudice that Williams offered a less than welcoming atmosphere for LGBTQ students. But having finished my first semester, I’ve espoused a different sentiment. Granted, in line with jeke, there are probably larger gay communities at other LACs: Vassar, Wesleyan, Macalester, Oberlin… and if that is the fulcrum of your college search than there’s no more to be said. But it’s less of a gay-friendly problem and more of a gay-less problem (I know of 11 out frosh, but there are probably more).</p>
<p>I myself have been more than pleased with my experience and haven’t for a second regretted my decision. Simply put, there are multitudes of positives that outweigh the quantity issue.</p>
<p>^the out frosh - does that include men and women?</p>
<p>I should have clarified-- that only reflects men. Although I know a small portion of the class this happens to be a demographic I’ve been acutely aware of so we’ll say that reflects a strong conservative estimate of out gay male frosh. There are 260 men in our class so ~4.23% (probably more as college seems to be a biggie as far as un-closeting oneself is concerned) are gay. Which would be a proportion about equivalent to if not slightly larger than the population at large. Not working with any validated statistics so can’t vie for accuracy but definitely food for thought. I’m aware of slightly fewer women that identify as lesbian in our class but it’s likely my bias.</p>