I have an opportunity to move to UNM for a semester after living in England all my life and honestly, the whole legal gun thing scares me. I’m openly gay and muslim, and my aunty who lives in Virginia is treated really badly because they wear the hijab. I know that what I see on the news and what my relatives tell me is a selection of the worst, but I hear it so often that I’m still worried. Would I be safe in New Mexico?
Yes, you would be safe in New Mexico.
UNM is a fairly liberal campus. As is Albuquerque and many parts of New Mexico.
There’s an active LBGTQ organization on campus you could contact if you have specific questions/concerns about UNM and how gay/lesbians are treated on campus.
There is also an active Muslim student association on campus
https://www. facebook .com/MSAUNM (remove spaces to use link)
There are prayer rooms set aside in various campus buildings/dorms and there are several mosques in town.
Like any larger city anywhere in the world there are some rough neighborhoods in Albuquerque which you ought to avoid, but in general the city is safe.
You will usually not experience any harassment for wearing hijab around town, and seldom, if at all, on campus.
WayOutWestMom summed it up very nicely. I’ve been to the campus and surrounding neighborhood many times, and I’ve always felt safe. In addition, you can have a police officer escort you to your dorm room if you have a class in the evening.
The truth is that very few people in the US carry guns with them, even though it’s legal.
And I would be shocked if anyone had a problem with your religion or sexuality. American universities are typically very open-minded and liberal.
I really hope you go to UNM; I think you would have a great time!
The media makes everything worse than it is. If I listened to some english media outlets I would basically think Britain and Europe were being taken over by harrassive muslims. Similar to how some news outlets make america look bad.
I am a texan and own guns, we aren’t bad. People carry but it’s concealed and banned on most colleges in the us.
Basically you’re very safe here, we don’t actually hate muslims and it is very safe.
Enjoy your college years!
Wow, that’s an interesting combo. If anything they’re gonna want to befriend you because you’re Muslim. It’s a very liberal campus. Every white person will flock over to you bc they want to look tolerant and diverse. You will be safer than other people, trust me.