The Huffington Post recently posted this article about the 25 most LGBTQ-friendly colleges in the United States.  While some of these were fairly predictable (UC Berkeley, U Mass Amherst, Portland State), others were a little more surprising to me (Ohio State, U of Utah, UC Riverside).  Conspicuously absent were some of the small liberal arts colleges I always assumed were bastions of gay-friendliness, like Smith and Reed, as well as colleges in queer-friendly cities (UC Santa Cruz, Harvard).  Interesting, though.

I was in college in the late 90s and early 2000s, in a fairly gay-friendly region of the country.  I met a lot of out men, but very few out women--maybe because I wasn't plugged into the scene (too busy hanging out with my DXH and quitting the rugby team), or maybe because women tend to come out a little later in life.  Even in the relatively accepting space of campus dorm life, coming out would have been tough.  There were a few gay-bashing incidents on campus during my undergrad years, and even the faculty members that everyone knew were gay weren't exactly "out"--they just didn't mention their home lives.

I get emails from high schoolers sometimes, asking for advice on choosing colleges.  I thought it'd be cool to do a survey about readers' college experiences.  If you attended (or are in) college, I'd *love* it if you'd fill out this short survey if you went to any college at ALL (even if you didn't graduate).  I'll post the results Friday!

 

Thanks for participating!  I'll be interested to see the results, and I know that young gay and lesbians kids considering college will really appreciate it.