<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I'm an early admit for the Class of 2017. I wanted to know how Harvard's gay community is, from a Harvard's students perspective. And if a gay Harvard student sees this, how is the social scene in this community? (e.g. parties, dating, etc.) </p>
<p>Very curious to hear about this since Stanford is my other school in consideration and if admitted I have a good idea of how it is there, but wanted to know how it is at Harvard.</p>
<p>dulcecollege? Sweet college?</p>
<p>Harvard has a very prominent LGBTQ community, and the campus itself is very nurturing. I am especially jealous that they opened an Office of BGLTQ Student Life after I graduated ([College</a> Opens BGLTQ Office | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/3/28/BGLTQ-office-opens/]College”>College Opens BGLTQ Office | News | The Harvard Crimson)). The social scene is pretty good (2-3 LGBTQ parties a semester with many other smaller social gatherings), but it does depend somewhat on who is on the QSA (Queer Students & Allies) board. Dating is more of a six degrees of Kevin bacon with it really being one/two degrees since dating is rampant and long term relationships are rare (sadly, three months is considered a major milestone)</p>
<p>With that said, it was very male dominant, and there is a little bit of tension between the gay men and the gay women on campus. However, when I graduated, relationships between QSA (which though it serves the entire queer community did have a male bias) and Girlspot (the queer women’s social organization) had improved drastically. Also, there was a strong ideological shift in how the entire LGBTQ community needs to be served with an emphasis on the entire LGBTQ spectrum and the leadership did leave a strong infrastructure behind for that ideology to be perpetuated.</p>
<p>Also, there have been a lot of smaller groups (which are created and dissolved depending on how well it can be sustained) that have a specialize focus:</p>
<p>TTF (Trans Task Force) - Focus on trans activism and rights - major accomplishment was lobbying for gender neutral housing and pushing for more gender neutral bathroom on campus</p>
<p>BAGELS - LGBTQ Jewish organization that meets at the Hillel.</p>
<p>Blackout - Anonymous LGBTQ group with a focus on people of color.</p>
<p>GLOW (Gay, Lesbian or Whatever) - LGBTQ group with a focus on people of color. Major difference from Blackout is being recognized by the university (most likely since Blackout could not declare its membership).</p>
<p>Gay Asian Forum - I believe that’s what it was called. The group was only sustained during my earlier years in undergraduate.</p>
<p>HGLC (Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus) - The alumni network, but you can join as an undergraduate (but not vote).</p>
<p>There were a few others; I definitely remember one for Hispanics that was trying to start up my senior year. Again, it depends on membership, but I am under the impression that QSA, Girlspot, TTF, Glow, and HGLC have sustained membership with BAGELS and Blackout likely, and the Gay Asian Forum unlikely.</p>
<p>Out of total curiosity, what does the ‘Q’ in LGBTQ stand for?</p>
<p>questioning</p>
<p>Ah, thanks for that.</p>
<p>and/or queer.</p>
<p>@Looshin, yes. I couldn’t think of names and pretty much made an account on CC just to ask questions</p>
<p>“there is a little bit of tension between the gay men and the gay women on campus.”</p>
<p>This is an issue that goes well beyond campus life. I think it’s fair to say that this tension exists in most grown-up gay communities. It’s not a big deal in most places, but it can be found.</p>
<p>I’m an early admit for 2017 too, and had the same questionthis is helpful!</p>
<p>How is the lesbian community specifically? Is there as large a percentage of queer women as there is of men? I’ve heard that the numbers are comparable, but the women are just less unified or visible.
Most of my friends are straight of any gender or queer men, but I would like to date every now and then…</p>
<p>Thoughts/experiences?</p>
<p>Although this is an old thread, I can definitely help you out. I am a queer female freshman. According to Crimson survey statistics, there are actually less queer identified females than males here. And it certainly feels that way, most of the time. QSA (the main LGBTQ student group here) is mostly dominated by cisgender males. Girlspot (queer women social organization) died out during the past few years, but I know some students trying to revitalize it this year. Most queer orgs do specifically support queer women and feminist stuff, but representationally, there are often very few queer women there.</p>
<p>Beyond there actually being less queer women than men, I would agree with it being less unified. There ARE queer women here, but there is no huge queer female social scene - mostly, queer women are just ingrained in social spaces across campus. There are some spaces that have, proportionally, a lot of queer women - certain sports teams, clubs, the Co-Op, etc - but mostly, people are scattered. There is SOME dating on campus (long and short term), but I do know a lot of women who struggle with meeting people. Personally, I haven’t found this to be a problem. If you are relatively confident and willing to approach people, everything is fine! Outside of sports/clubs, my main social group is mostly queer men, and there are tons of informal parties and gatherings. Additionally, the QSA and other groups throw big parties every semester, and there are usually some queer women at these. </p>
<p>Let me know if you have additional questions!</p>