I think everyone hears the rumors/stereotypes that everyone who lives in the south is a homophobic evangelical. I'm wondering about this because looking at colleges, some of my top choices happen to be in the South. I'm not extremely flamboyant, so I don't think a stranger would be able to tell that I was gay, but would it be a mistake to go to a university in the south? All Four schools I'm looking at in the south are in Urban areas, have no religious affiliations, and are pretty intellectual schools. Do you think it'll be fine? Or should I try to avoid this?
I'm not from the South or have spent any large amount of time there, but I'd have to imagine that LGBT-friendliness is infinitely better at large state colleges/urban colleges than it would be in the rural areas that the stereotypes come from. But stand by for someone that's actually spent time in the South to chime in on that one. Otherwise I'd advise further looking into the universities that interest you, and just do some digging regarding the atmosphere relating to their LGBT communities.
More urban areas tend to have people from all over the country moving in so its less so there but I'm pretty close from Atlanta and there are people with confederate flags I've lived here four years, two being the worst of my life, I can't really tell you why they aren't lgbt friendly I can only say for the most part they are. Again though, urban areas have more diversity and you will find people to be more accepting there, at colleges and universities the bigger they are the most likely to be the most accepting but colleges in general are accepting anyway
It really depends on how large the schools are. I live in alabama and there are a lot of homophobes, but if you go to one of the bigger schools you shouldn't have many problems with that.
If you go to a big school you'll be just fine.....college towns and big cities are pretty lgbt friendly.
Thanks for the replies. I don't know what you would consider "big", but the schools I'm talking about range from 3500 to 7000 undergrads. I've looked into these schools, and they all seem gay friendly, the only problem is that I occasionally get into a panicky state that if I end up going to one of these schools I'll get there and find out there aren't as many other gay guys as I thought that there'd be and I won't get the whole "college experience".
Neutrality has a point. I would say 95% of universities in the US are pretty LGBTQ friendly despite their surrounding areas. Though I went to CU, so maybe I was spoiled....
I go to a school in one of the largest cities in TN, and I haven't had any problems, some of my favorite professors are openly gay and I see them at drag shows!
What schools? There are some in the south that are quite gay friendly and some that are neutral and some that are quite hostile. You can't generalize or really say anything meaningful without naming the schools.
A few random links after a quick google search: Emory: Emory University shines in LGBT Friendly Campus Climate Index Rice: Gay Life at Rice - College Confidential Tulane: Tulane University Admission Blog - Jeff: Guest Blog- LGBT Life at Tulane Miami: Gays at UM - College Confidential This might also be useful: Campus Pride: Find Your Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Friendly College or University You can also dig deeper for info regarding LGBT climates - this was just a quick search. Calling the LGBT groups at each could be a good idea too. None of the ones you're considering sounded "anti-gay" to me, and Emory seemed particularly promising - but you best dig in for yourself .
The area I live in ....NO however Rice and Houston in general seems to be open and friendly. Memphis is also great however just across the boarders in AR and MS are some of the most bigoted places I've ever seen and sadly, lived.
Like everyone else said already, most Universities are pretty LGBT friendly across the nation. Even in the south. I live near Orlando, Florida and went to a tiny community college in my city. Luckily I have never had one single problem either on or off campus. Granted we didn't have very involved LGBT people (or anyone for that matter), but I was able to have an amazing time there and had tons of opportunities to meet other LGBT people.
Off the bat, I can tell you that you're unlikely to have any problem at Emory or Rice. I'm less familiar with Miami, though... Miami is arguably the South's equivalent of San Francisco in terms of the population of poofs, so I would find it hard to believe that is isn't full of fairies. Tulane is a really good school, and I've had friends that went there, but unfortunately for our purposes they were straight so I don't have any insight on that one.
Thanks for all the support. I've actually done some research on the matter and a lot of the time feel really confident with my list. There's just this occasionally phase I go through after seeing a cute gay couple, or watching an LGBT movie where I get worried and wonder if I'll go through college without even experimenting with a guy. I hate the northern winters, but sometimes I wonder if I would be better off in a city like Boston.
Being from florida, I can tell you that the colleges here are definitely gay friendly. Granted, I graduated recently from an art college... but still, all of them are very accepting with open arms here.. minus the christian colleges .. haha. Try Boston, I hate northern winters too, but there is a good chance I will end up there... lol. If you want to experiment... :icon_bigg I know how you feel about that... I went through college without any experimentation at all.:dry:
