<p>I am an openly gay incoming freshman, and I'm somewhat apprehensive of what awaits. I'm excited because it's college and it's a completely neeeeew experience, but I don't want to encounter any homophobia (which i guess could be too idealistic.) Does anybody know of the gay community on campus or how the students feel about it?</p>
<p>Well, Tulane is in Louisianna. Take from that what you will.</p>
<p>that it is, but as a whole being a college.</p>
<p>yeah hopefully the envrionment around the college is different, but be ready for anything as the south on the whole tends to be very homogeneous.</p>
<p>You ever been to New Orleans rand_182? It is not exactly sexually repressed and never has been. Baton Rouge might be a different matter but who in their right mind would ever go there? I don't think you'll have a problem Jeremy.</p>
<p>haha as a matter of fact yeah <em>remembers mardi gras</em> There's certainly a presence of gays there but I wouldn't be hoping for a complete lack of homophobia either as the feelings in the south seem to be deeply imbedded and widespread.</p>
<p>I know a couple of openly gay students and I don't treat them any differently than anyone else. While Tulane is in the South, remember that Tulane's students are made up from a lot of places other than the south. These are liberal kids who don't have the deeply imbedded undertones of southern "dislike." Otherwise, I am more than confident that you will be comfortable on campus.</p>
<p>My daughter is from the south. Believe it or not, some of us are quite reasonable and tolerant of differences in others. I know that she knows some gays on campus, it doesn't bother her and I haven't heard of it bothering anybody she knows.</p>
<p>But I would like to point out that you are displaying a certain type of intolerance in the way you talk about people from the south. That may get you more disrespect than being gay.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the responses! I'm also a little apprehensive about roommates and such, I mean...I'm not going to walk in and the first i shout is "i'm gay!" no. It does not define me at all, it's just a little side fact. But, it will be known sometime I'm sure to my roomate, and I just am hoping I pick the best option possible!</p>
<p>Relax, JB. It's a pretty laidback place. Expect to be happy, and I'm sure you will be.</p>
<p>Thatmom, no offense meant to southern people. I live in Texas though (for 20 years) so I've seen a lot of samples.</p>
<p>I think you will find the culture in souther Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans to be pretty distinct. Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Little Rock, and even Houston have more in common with each other than any of them have with New Orleans. The South is Protestant. New orleans is Catholic. The Sout is Anglo Saxon, Scotch-Irish, and Afro-American. New Orleans is still a Creole potpouri, a port city that is German, Irish, Jewish, African American, cajun, and yes still Creole. Throw in some Italian, a sprinkle of Vietnamese, some newly arrived hispanic, some Russian gangsters, and a goodly dose of Caribbean stir and season liberally and you have something quite unique. Its customs, ways and mores aren't anything like the rest of the South or the rest of the country for that matter.</p>
<p>im confused. you're wondering if it's okay for you to act gay on campus? you're worried about hate crimes or something? or do you want to be friends with everybody but need to know before hand if you can act gay in front of most people or not? do you act pretty gay in general?</p>
<p>I'm in between. I am effiminate but. Ok, I'll put it like this. People say I could pass as straight till I laugh or smile or w/e so it's not liek I'm that bad lol Then again it's not really a big deal anyways. </p>
<p>IT's not if i'm wondering if it's ok to..act gay. That's weird b/c anybody ca "act" gay. I mean to BE gay, as in if somebody asked you and you say yes, what would happen?</p>
<p>you're wondering if you start hitting on a guy and he turns out straight if he'll dislike you?</p>
<p>lmao banis</p>
<p>ha. no. i'm a littttttle more careful about that one. Happened before, NOT fun!</p>
<p>i think it us unfair to tell you that the tulane student body will act in a singular way as regards your orientation. tulane's student body is an extremely disjointed one. i wouldn't exactly call tulane "liberal" either, it's more apathetic (moderate by (drunken) default) if anything. tulane is not a big gay school as in there are not/ do not seem to be a lot of gay students at tulane, as opposed to a school like NYU. however since tulane is neither a very religious nor Christian school i don't think you will find too many people that object to your "lifestyle decisions" on moral grounds. however, expect to be somewhat alienated from the guys on your floor. be sure to approach this with as open mind as you would want from others. do not have a standard that you expect others to uphold in interacting with you just because you are in the minority position. you could potentially learn a lot from this.</p>
<p>African34 has given you the single most useful response yet. Going into a new situation isn't about the person entering it--at least not if he wants to get the most out of it. It's about what you can find there. </p>
<p>Try seeing it a different way: My son went into Tulane as a decidedly UNrich kid with a set of values that clashed with those of many of the people he found there. (We knew that would happen; we also knew he was open and flexible enough to handle it.) In a very short time, he located the people who either shared some of his values or who were fun to be with ANYWAY.</p>
<p>I guess the point is what African 34 said--tolerance goes both ways if you want to have a good experience or--as I said before, relax.</p>
<p>Thank you for the posts. Yes, I guess it is true or POSSIBLE that i could be alienated from guys on my floor. whatever i mean i'm not advocating myself to them haha. i'm sure it'll all be fine, enough, and if not, i'll deal with it. But, thank you so far for the input.</p>