<ol>
<li><p>University of Pennsylvania</p></li>
<li><p>Has one of the oldest LGBT resource centers in the country (27 years old). Also has a political organization called the Lambda Alliance which serves as an umbrella coalition for LGBT groups and advocates on behalf of the LGBT community by working directly with the President, Provost, etc. Also the community has great events, including a weeklong celebration of awareness and pride called QPenn with speakers like Staceyann Chin and Margaret Cho.</p></li>
<li><p>First hand experience. It was easier to come out than stay in just because the community is incredibly unavoidable and appealing to be a part of.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>IBClass06 makes good points that are valuable to any thread LGBT student might read to get a feel for what schools to apply to.</p>
<p>Larger schools and schools near big cities (i.e. not rural LACs), are oftentimes going to be a more fun place for queer students, even if they have less institutionalized “friendliness” than some crunchy hippie school. </p>
<p>The generalization he makes is definitely valuable, so if you’re evaluating Wesleyan vs. UMDCP, you may say, well, UMD isn’t known for being this hippie, queer mecca, so Wesleyan > UMD. But you can’t discount the huge pluses of size and proximity to major cities which may make for a more vibrant “underground” gay scene, with potentially a lot more dating options (which, let’s face it, is one of the most important things to LGB students when looking for colleges, since most of them spent their HS years wondering if they were the only gay person on the planet).</p>
<p>You can’t apply that generalization to every school (just as small and alternative isn’t always > big, big is not always > small and alternative), but it’s a good thing to keep in mind.</p>
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<p>Freshmen can live with opposite-gender roommates as well. The roommate survey/form provides a distinction between “sex” and “gender” and allows for this option.</p>
<p>–also a current student</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Cool. I couldn’t remember how that worked, though I knew there was something…</p>
<p>But yeah. Very LGB and even T friendly.</p>
<p>Northwestern University</p>
<p>-Gender-neutral bathrooms in some buildings.
-High-profile LGBT speakers including alumni coming to visit.
-Great funding for Rainbow Alliance and LGBT resource center (judging from the events they’ve put on).
-Access to Chicago, which is very gay-friendly (there’s an area called Boystown where LGBT students from all over the city go to party).
-One time, the campus got attacked by some anti-gay protestors (lol) and students immediately took action by staging a counter-protest, starting FB groups, and having the Rainbow flag hang next to the NU flag to signify the University’s support for LGBT issues.
-You can be gay and choose not to part of the gay scene and still be happy/feel welcome because people here recognize that sexual orientation is just one aspect of your identity.</p>
<p>Source: gay friends</p>