Haverford friendly for gay students

TakenFromAMap
Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:29:05 +0000

I’m a current junior who’s openly gay (guy) and never once have I found it difficult to be out at Haverford. I’m had a lot of anxiety about coming out to people at Haverford before I got there, unsure of how I’d bring it up, whether I’d tell my hall right away, etc. All my stress was for nothing. Coming out to people happened pretty seamlessly and everyone was super supportive. A lot of my friends are gay as I’ve met them through various LGBT things (SAGA, our sexuality and gender alliance, and QDG, our LGBT only group). Like all clubs on campus, they are what students make of them. If you want them to be political, there are plenty of opportunities for you to make that happen. Last year two students wanted to create a social space where queer women could meet each other and I think they meet weekly and sometimes have pizza or movie nights. The queer community is small because we’re a small school but there are a lot of other gay students in the area if you want to put yourself out there for dating opportunities. (Actually, the queer community is a lot bigger than most people think it is because only a segment of the community routinely go to LGBT clubs.) Openly gay students are active in all segments of campus life (to my knowledge, one of the Co-Heads of student government last year was openly gay and there are gay men and women in student government now as well as working in admissions as the face of the school).

So, in sum, Haverford students totally embrace and support their LGBT peers and never once has my sexual orientation been an issue. Rather, it’s one of the many differences and distinctions celebrated by Haverford students.

Now to go back to writing an essay…