<p>If you are gay, how will your life at Duke be? Is the campus atmosphere a bit to conservative to tolerate it, or would you be warmly accepted?</p>
<p>I think you can tell a lot about a school, and the people, by how they treat the issue. </p>
<p>I need honesty people.</p>
<p>Hmm well I see people walking around every day wearing the "Gay? Fine by me" t-shirts that they sold here...I think last year? But yeah, I know a pretty good amount of gay people here, male and female, and most of them are actually in relationships. I mean, one of the most fun things I've done this semester was go to a drag talent show in the Coffeehouse, where members of the LGBT community dressed up in drag and sang songs. My favorite was a transgender...girl? (now boy) who sang Temperature and was throwing his (I'm gonna go with his) clothes into the audience while he danced around. Anyway, I'm not gay so I can't give you firsthand account...but from what I hear from my friends who are, I've never heard them complain about the atmosphere here.</p>
<p>The Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Life (<a href="http://lgbt.studentaffairs.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://lgbt.studentaffairs.duke.edu/</a>) has an informative web site as well as contacts and information about programs of study.</p>
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Hmm well I see people walking around every day wearing the "Gay? Fine by me" t-shirts that they sold here...I think last year?
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<p>they weren't sold - they were free! :)
I wear mine all the time and I'm a straight guy.
And they give them out every year I'm pretty sure . . . at least that's what one of my friends, who is gay, tells me. He's in a frat . . . I think that if they want to be, gay kids can be pretty "mainstream" here.</p>
<p>There is some degree of homophobia at Duke but you don't see any intense hatred directed toward homosexuals. People will say "that's gay" casually but they just do it because it's what theyve been conditioned to do and that's what makes them appear socially acceptable. In some ways, Duke is a lot like high school in that people do not think before they speak. But I am sure if you pushed what would seem like the most homophobic Duke student, I am sure he or she would realize that this or her words were wrong. People here are smart and will not hate anyone for no reason at all.</p>
<p>Yeah I've heard people call people out on saying "that's gay"</p>
<p>This is a response I have to another post made in the Lax players thread about how the homophobic atmosphere here at Duke is more pervasive than I originally implied...just bringing it here because it's more relevant to this thread:</p>
<p>I mean, look - I'm still only a freshman, and I'm not a member of the LGBT community so I don't have a firsthand opinion about the matter. All I know is that I have PLENTY of gay/lesbian friends here and I've never heard them say anything negative about the atmosphere. Whether this is just because we don't really talk about it or not, I can't know. But I mean...I just really haven't witnessed a lot of the "pervasive" attitude you're talking about.</p>
<p>I will admit, you have to keep in mind who this is coming from. Since I'm not the type of person to hold those opinions, when finding my "niche" at Duke I naturally gravitated towards being friends with other people that don't and I really just don't associate with the people that would. That's probably why I have a good number of LGBT friends in the first place. I've never noticed an attitude - but that may be because it doesn't directly affect me and I'm not out there looking for it. All I know is that my LGBT friends are happy here and have not said anything explicitly about their perception of an "attitude." That would probably be an interesting conversation to bring up with them in the future, though.</p>
<p>P.S. alexatduke -- I want a "Gay? Fine by me" shirt! Do you know when they usually give them out?</p>
<p>Actually, the CEO of the "Gay. Fine by me." movement came to speak at our dorm. He is actually one of my RA's cousins. The shirts are given out for free during the year, but I'm sure you can order one online.</p>