Hello! I want my future to be in the theatre and film arts, and while looking at some lists of the best cities/colleges in which to start these careers, I found that many of them were Southern! To be honest, I would love the idea of warm weather and greenery, but as someone extremely liberal (and lesbian) I don’t want to be in an extremely conservative environment. Does anyone know how liberal/conservative/gay-friendly/feminism-friendly UT-Austin, Rice, Emory, or Tulane are? Or any of the cities they reside in (Austin, Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans)? New Orleans and Austin specifically seem so cool and full of great career opportunities!! But I have to put my safety first.
Thanks so much!
In general, urban areas in much of the South are in practice more gay-friendly than not, and university communities even more so. Houston’s former mayor Annise Parker, a lesbian, is now on the faculty at Rice, which has long been gay & feminist-friendly. Austin is very laid back & liberal, although fewer films are being made in Texas than previously. Hard to keep up with incentives that state film commissions are offering, but Louisiana had been moving in that direction. I can’t speak to Atlanta/Emory.
Does an extremely conservative environment exist on a college campus? Maybe avoid Liberty. Otherwise you should be fine.
You’d be fine at any of the universities you listed, but I’m a little curious as to what makes you think that Texas/Atlanta are more sound options for theater and film than NYC/LA/Chicago/etc.
As long as you’re avoiding bible schools and Liberty U, you’ll be fine. College campuses aren’t very conservative, even if they’re in the south. And students really don’t care if you’re gay or straight.
@Qwerty568 I’m definitely applying to schools in NYC and LA! Those are my top choices. But my high school requires that I apply to eight colleges. Only five total in NYC and LA appeal to me, and I’ve heard from a lot of my friends in the big Chicago schools that they are absolutely miserable there! So I’m looking around 
To everyone else, thanks!
New Orleans would be fine, and there’s still a good bit of film activity even though there have been some limits put on the tax incentives. As someone said, urban areas are generally not as conservative.
I don’t know about Emory but Atlanta’s fine. It draws liberal activists and has a well established gay community. Of course, the city has a range of citizenry - conservatives as well as liberals, religious right as well as not-so- religious left (and the religious left too). Everyone is safe to express their views.
You should look at Temple in Philly. If you have enough stats you can get a full tuition merit aid.
I went to school with the Indigo Girls at Emory
I grew up in and went to college in Atlanta (and am queer, although I didn’t really start coming out until grad school in New York). Atlanta is a very queer/LGBT-friendly city! Atlanta actually ranks third nationally for LGBT populations - after San Francisco or Seattle. Nearly 13% of the city’s population identifies as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. And Atlanta’s a pretty liberal/progressive city.
Also, Atlanta has a large and thriving film industry! Atlanta’s film industry is actually the fourth-largest in the U.S. (behind California, New York…and Texas!) Emory actually has really pretty arts/theater facilities. And Atlanta has lots of media companies - Turner Broadcasting is headquartered there, there are lots of smaller theater companies in the city as well, and in 2010 Screen Gems inked a 50-year lease on studio space in Atlanta.
Austin is a super liberal place - it’s like the Portland of the South. Seriously, they borrowed “Keep Austin Weird” from “Keep Portland Weird.” Obviously SXSW is there, but they also have lots of theaters and a burgeoning film scene. Austin Studios is there (old converted hangars) and UT-Austin’s film program is actually one of the best in the world.
New York and LA are predictable places for a young actress to move, so the competition is steep. But many other smaller cities have smaller theater/film scenes that might be easier to move around in, network, and audition in than the big cities. Then you can always work your way up or move later.
New Orleans is probably the gay-friendliest city in the South. The city has a thriving gay scene. But New Orleans’ culture (including its speaking accent) isn’t “Southern”
I don’t doubt that most of these schools are generally more liberal, open, and accepting than the surrounding areas. And similar for the larger cities/more urban areas. Still, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any issues. Consider the recent law passed in North Carolina – part of which prohibited cities in the state from enacting their own non-discrimination laws/ordinances (and many of the southern states do not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation). You might try to find LGBT/feminist individuals/groups/communities at these particular schools and see what they have to say.
New Orleans is quite Southern. Southern isn’t a monolith, and there are a lot of different facets to it, but New Orleans’ culture is definitely a part of the umbrella Southern culture for sure. But speaking of New Orleans, in 2002, New Orleans started giving tax breaks to film companies/productions and so they’ve seen an increase in filing down there; a lot of big movies in the last 10 or so years have been filmed in New Orleans. Now there’s the Louisiana Film & Television Studio complex in Treme.
And yes, Southern states have their issues. The cities that the OP mentioned are often liberal enclaves in the middle of a sea of more conservative suburban and rural areas, and honestly even the urban areas don’t have the same liberal/accepting culture that other cities like New York or LA might have towards LGBTQ folks. And yes, the South is sort of the last bastion of where the culture wars are raging in actual law (and parts of the Midwest. And to be clear, my comment is not absolving other areas of any prejudice - just that in the South, the opposition is such that it’s actually still trying to enshrine discrimination in law. Still, remember that one of the other states in the news about this recently was Indiana. The South isn’t the only region culpable.)
But, to be frank, most places in the U.S. are not going to be SF/NY/Seattle/LA anyway. You have to weigh that against how much that’s likely to affect your day to day life. I agree that chatting with LGBTQ students on campus and seeing what they have to say about living in that city, and that state, feels every day.
Agreed that Emory will be accepting. But I’d also suggest you look at Agnes Scott.
If you still need your two safeties - and those schools you named are at best matches but mostly reaches due to selectivity - then look into Agnes Scott and Eckerd, perhaps Hendrix.
Have you discussed budget with your parents ? Do they have 50k /year for college, out of pocket (no financial aid for oos students)?
What??? Austin “borrowed” Keep Austin Weird from Portland? Try the other way around. And “borrowed” is generous.
I second the notion of Eckerd College in Florida.
I second everything @juillet said about Atlanta. The film industry here is going crazy! Plus, the culture of Atlanta is not traditional or southern at all-it’s remarkably heterogeneous in terms of nearly every metric you could apply.
You might want to consider SCAD: https://www.scad.edu/academics/programs The main campus is in Savannah (very liberal), but there’s one in Atlanta, as well.
Atlanta is very LBGT friendly. So you won’t just be confined to the campus. I know there are some schools that maybe LBGT friendly but once you leave campus it’s another story. That’s not the case with Atlanta. As for your safety, that’s another story. But if you are unsafe in Atlanta it won’t be because you are gay. lol