Best Colleges for Queers

Carleton College. Small town in MN. GAY!

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!

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Were you out in college? *

Yes Partly No

 

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.