<p>I'm a closet-gay student because my school in rural VA is VERY Anti-Gay. I'd probably get stabbed or shot if I came out.</p>
<p>How about you?</p>
<p>Yeah. One of my good friends is gay, everyone knows about him and that doesn't make them like him any less.</p>
<p>I'm really sorry about what's going on at your school.</p>
<p>That really sucks. I'm in NYC and my school has a very vibrant, accepted gay community. I'm really grateful for it.</p>
<p>Overall, the my school is fairly accepting of gay students. There are a number of extremely conservative students who are very vocal about their opinions on the matter, but they are definitely in the minority.</p>
<p>Nobody really cares what you are at my school. We have a GSA club which nobody cares about and like 8 people go there and complain about how horrible their life is being gay, but I've personally never had an issue with my sexuality. Nobody treats me differently and nobody treats my gay friends any differently and we're all out. Those few people in the club really just make stuff up and try to draw sympathy out of their sexuality and many people, including myself, don't like it. But no, nobody's treated any differently because of it.</p>
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Is your school gay-friendly?
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I would say mine's pretty mixed. I did an experiment for psychology where I came out to the student body (at the time inspired and simultaneously pis*ed off about how a close friend of mine at a neighboring school was beaten up for being gay), and some of the kids I thought were cool ended up not talking to me while some of the kids I thought were mean turned out to be nice and supportive. It was surprising (and at the same time heartbreaking) how something like this made people show their true colors.</p>
<p>Alex</p>
<p>seeing as my schools principal is gay, we have about 8 teachers who are gay, and a GSA club that has 50 kids-- we are a very open gay liberal community</p>
<p>and have a day of silence at school</p>
<p>I remember a few months ago, at a pep rally, this gay kid decided to become a cheerleader.</p>
<p>About 14 seniors jumped him after school and threw him into a river. He switched schools since then.</p>
<p>I'm in Utah and we do not want your people here.</p>
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I'm in Utah and we do not want your people here.
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</p>
<p>That's exactly the kind of person the OP is looking to avoid and the reason he can't be who he is. </p>
<p>CIA, I hope you can become who you are when you go to college. Most people are not anti-gay and those who are should get over themselves. Best of luck!!</p>
<p>It's pretty good, actually. There was one teacher I can recall who was somewhat less than supportive of the GSA, and kids toss around gay jokes like anywhere else, but nothing like the kind of bullying and discrimination I hear about at other schools. I'm sure people talked about it behind my back after I came out, but no one's harassed me or said anything really negative to my face.</p>
<p>I'm really sorry to hear about your school. The good news is, unless you go to some super-conservative college, it'll get much better then. Most college campuses are way more liberal and gay-friendly, and The Advocate published this great guide that listed the 100 most gay-friendly campuses in the U.S. (If you want me to, I can dig it up and post the list.)</p>
<p>Salamander and OP, I have a list of the top 20. Gay</a> Rights Watch: Gay Friendly Colleges Ranked - Reed towards top</p>
<p>No one cares where I live. Seriously, no one outside your close circle of friends will care. I haven't heard of any acts of violence or defamation or arguments. I live in the South and not in a city. I'm sure there are people who don't think people should be proud of being gay (I'm one of them, I consider gay pride to be like racial pride, being proud of something completely beyond your control) and there are plenty who think gay marriage shouldn't be legal, but they don't extend those opinions onto actual individuals.</p>
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I'm one of them, I consider gay pride to be like racial pride, being proud of something completely beyond your control
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I don't know. It's got less to do with actually being gay or colored, really. Being proud after people try their best to humiliate you is definitely no big feat.</p>
<p>Alex</p>
<p>My school is pretty good about it I guess. I'm gay, and president of a GSA-type club. We had about 60% of the students participate in Day of Silence last year.</p>
<p>I think, for the most part, my school is gay-accepting. There are, not a lot, but a fair amount of openly gay kids. </p>
<p>I've heard some people (not to say that correlation indicates any causation, but those "some people" were usually the kids with the lower grades/behavioral problems) talk about them behind their backs, but nothing beyond that.</p>
<p>I'm from Massachusetts. So yeah. </p>
<p>I do hear the occassional insult though but no violence. Then again, I live in a theatre bubble and theatre kids are generally verrrrry accepting.</p>
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I consider gay pride to be like racial pride, being proud of something completely beyond your control
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The idea is more like being able to hold your head up in public, to no longer be bashed and humiliated just because you're not like the majority in a particular way.</p>
<p>One gay acquaintance was disappointed upon arrival at Reed, because there wasn't much of a gay community, little gay organization. There are plenty of gays at Reed, but no one notices or cares, so there's no reason to form any kind of a support group.</p>
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I'm one of them, I consider gay pride to be like racial pride, being proud of something completely beyond your control
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</p>
<p>Would you prefer if they were ashamed?</p>
<p>to add to our open gayness</p>
<p>our homecoming princess was a MAN (transvestite i think)</p>
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There are plenty of gays at Reed, but no one notices or cares, so there's no reason to form any kind of a support group.
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I don't know, I visited Reed (loved it!) and was under the impression that most of the student body was at least bi (suspicions of my prospie host, mind you). Forming a gay community would be like forming a white society since most of the students are white, too. Man, I really liked Reed.</p>
<p>Alex</p>