<p>As a gay student preparing to enter Macalester for his first year, I am still curious (and a bit worried) about the LGBT life on campus. It is very apparent from a quick online search that Macalester was voted #1 Most Gay Friendly by the Princeton Review, and it has continued to rank fairly high on on that list in more recent years. </p>
<p>But I've yet to hear much from actual LGBT students (or any students for that matter) about how prominent the gay population is at Mac and whether LGBT students can be comfortable being "out" there. I'm also wondering if gay students tend to group/hang out together, or if there are any hangout places they like to be, or any activities (on- or off-campus) in which many LGBT students are involved. </p>
<p>In short, how is the gay/LGBT/queer life at Macalester?</p>
<p>If anyone can provide any information on the matters mentioned above, I would very much appreciate it! Thank you. :-]</p>
<p>My daughter will be a freshman in the fall too.
I can’t answer your specific question, however, I will say that the Twin Cities (we live about 30 min from Mac) are pretty tolerant of all kinds of people in general.
Have you talked to incoming and current students on Facebook? My daughter joined that group right away and seems to have made friends with other newbies that she shares interests with.<br>
Good luck!</p>
<p>As a straight student, I’m obviously limited in answering your question, but I’ll give you as complete an impression as I can. In general, I’d say the guidebook rankings are pretty well deserved. Queer Union is one of the largest and most visible organizations on campus, and they run a lot of events, such as coming out week and the queer cabaret (which seems to be pretty popular among everyone judging by attendance), among other smaller things. There’s also strong LGBT presence in a lot of other events such as sex positive week. It seems to me that being “out” there isn’t really out there at Mac at all–this is true of the student body in general too. In fact one complaint against queer union from some of my LGBT friends is that they’re too focused on “out and proud” types of things that some people aren’t as comfortable with/enthusiastic about. There’s also a support group for LGBT students (as well as many other groups) but I don’t know how widely used that is. Another thing Mac does is lavender graduation, which is an optional recognition ceremony. Here’s a link to a bunch of stuff: [LGBT</a> Resources](<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/lgbt/index.html]LGBT”>http://www.macalester.edu/lgbt/index.html). Overall, gay students seem to be well integrated into the community as a whole. I don’t know of any hangout places or activities besides theatre maybe, but I don’t think it’ll be hard for you to find your place by any means. One thing that’s coming up in the next calendar year too is the gay marriage ban ballot referendum in 2012, which is definitely going to get a lot of organizations on campus involved in the opposition–I honestly can’t imagine any organizations advocating for the ban either, even the MacGOP is more progressive than that.</p>
<p>I’m a LGBT student at Mac and I can say with absolute confidence that having a different sexual orientation is not only accepted, but seemingly almost valued. It is easier to be “out” at Mac than nearly any other place in the US (except maybe the Castro District of San Francisco). Generally LGBT students know each other, but as a group we’re integrated into the rest of campus life. In fact, most of my friends are straight and cisgendered (a word you may hear for the 1st time at Mac). The Twin Cities are a generally accepting place for the gay/lesbian community, with a lot of activities and gay nightclubs to visit, even under the age of 21. There are multiple LGBT-focused coffeeshops in Minneapolis, as well as LGBT-owned businesses.</p>
<p>When I was making my college decision for this fall, I had it basically narrowed down to two options: Macalester and Georgetown. While I ended up deciding to choose Georgetown, Macalester seemed to suit all of my LGBT needs. One of my friends is gay and goes to Macalester, and he absolutely loves it. It’s a really accepting place, and that’s why it was so hard for me to turn it down.</p>
<p>M/SP is a great area and incredibly tolerant. I definitely think you’ll fit right in at Mac!</p>