<p>I just wanted to put this out there. If I had found this board as a potential student, I would not have been ballsy enough to post questions about queer life at Wellesley. Are you curious (har har)?</p>
<p>If anyone wants honest answers feel free to private message me. I may not know everything but I can give you one gay student's perspective. If you post to the board, I will reply to the board.</p>
<p>Can you share specifics as it is always a question for prospes and incomings? What is the abundance? Is it in your face or just like any normal college campus?</p>
<p>tennis08, I know that surveys report the gay population at Wellesley to be approximately equal to that in the general public. It's not "in your face," but Wellesley is a place where most people are comfortable with and find it easy to explore one's sexuality, identity, etc. The community at Wellesley is generally very open minded, and I would say that for the most part, students are cognizant of this and work to keep it that way.</p>
<p>Hi RotatingWorld! </p>
<p>I definitely have some questions. When I visited Smith College, queer life was very visible, and I know many queer alums from Smith-- from lesbians to transmen to genderqueers. But I get the feeling that Wellesley is less queer.
How is the queer life in general? Is it fairly easy to find a date? Are there queer social/activisty groups?</p>
<p>Hi jojo,</p>
<p>Apologies for the delayed response. I would say that queer life is there, it's pretty visible depending upon the events you attend and your friend groups, but it is less a part of the community (make that NOT a part of the community) outside of the school gates. Northhampton is basically lesbian central, as I'm sure you're well aware. I mean, they have the highest rate of same-sex co-habitation in the country. More than San Fran (so I've been told). Wellesley the town is not at all like that. And while there's plenty of gay life in downtown Boston, most students don't go into Boston as much as they initially think they will. Disclaimer: this is a generalization.</p>
<p>I would say there are fewer lesbians, are at least fewer couples out and about, making their presence known on campus. There are small numbers of visibly genderqueer folks and transmen about. You can find a date if you put yourself out there, especially if you're interested in joining certain sports groups or social clubs (I'm thinking here of rugby/crew and Shakespeare Society - they are very queer friendly). And there is Spectrum, which is W's equivalent of a LGBT/GSA group. It wasn't overwhelmingly popular as a social group when I was there. As an organization, they threw one huge, very successful party a year - Dyke Ball - and then several smaller dances that were not particularly well attended. Spectrum also did activism on campus and promoted things such as the National Day of Silence.</p>
<p>In summary: it's a small school but there are dating opportunities, fewer lesbians than Smith but certainly a fair number, and Boston can be a welcome retreat for gay activities, dances, and dating opportunities.</p>
<p>RW</p>
<p>tennis - </p>
<p>looks like rev already answered your question, but i'll take a stab as well. you will, walking about, see girls holding hands, probably every few days. you might have a gay roommate, or a lesbian living down the hall from you. if you attend Dyke Ball, you will witness a lot of heavy petting. I have no reliable statistics. It's there, it's visible, and basically no one cares a bit (and if they do, they're keeping quiet about it).</p>
<p>oh yes, there are many smart, cute girls wandering about who may or may no be at least bi-curious. that's a given.</p>
<p>According to the Wellesley-MIT Counterpoint publication, 14% of Wellesley students admitted to being other than heterosexual. <a href="http://counterpoint.mit.edu/%7Ewebserver/Documents/archives/Counterpoint_V21_I3_2001_Nov.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://counterpoint.mit.edu/~webserver/Documents/archives/Counterpoint_V21_I3_2001_Nov.pdf</a></p>
<p>GLBT students at Wellesley are just as open about their relationships as the straight students are, which I find really cool. Straight, bi, gay, trans people all mingle with each other--especially at the pub. I probably see more visible girl/girl relationships than girl/guy ones, but that's because students spend time with their boyfriends off campus and their boyfriends tend to visit on the weekends. I think I've heard the statistic that 30% of the student body is GLBT. </p>
<p>Having said all this, Wellesley students are not quite as "out" as our 7 Sister counterparts, but we're incredibly sensitive and PC about GLBT issues. </p>
<p>Wellesley is probably the most straight and square after Barnard.</p>
<p>How hard is it to come out in a college atmosphere?
How does one go about transitioning genders or crossdressing while a first-year student?</p>
<p>How hard is it to come out in a college atmosphere?
How does one go about transitioning genders or crossdressing while a first-year student?</p>
<p>I feel like your questions could be better answered by one of our transgender or genderqueer students. I’m thinking for the first one, it depends on who you are & how closeted you feel. For some, it’ll be much easier than others. I can tell you though that Wellesley is very gay-friendly and accepting of homosexual/bisexual/whatever you are students. Extremely friendly actually. I’ve seen all kinds, and I have not seen a lot (or any, actually, but I don’t want to make it seem utopian, I’m sure there is some) intolerance of these individuals.</p>
<p>I don’t know the exact process, there are a few students here who call themselves the Brothers on campus, and they are in the process of becoming male. They are very open about who they are, they see gender as a very fluid and diverse concept. there’s no one-size fits all. I have seen a few women transitioning genders on campus, and as I said, there is a support group that would absolutely have more information than I can give you. :)</p>