The Gayest Thing About America’s Gay Friendliest School University of Oregon?
A college education will teach you that listicles are the future of journalism, so I appreciate the Campus Pride Climate Index’s ranking of America’s institutions of higher learning for their LGBT-friendliness. And the winner is?
Among 230 universities ranked, the University of Oregon comes out on top, along with 18 other schools that achieved a five-star ranking. Which is funny, because when you Google “University of Oregon gay,” the first image to pop up is of track star Tyson Gay, who went to the University of Oregon, and always clogs up my “gay” search results.
Mr. Gay is, I believe, straight.
Just an opinion, of course, but I graduated from U of O in 1986 (BA, History and Journalism, with departmental honors in history), and it was no “gayer” than any other place then (I was also something like a jock, captain of the U of O bowling team 1984-86). I cherish my time and excellent education from U of O, and I’ll always be a loyal Oregon Duck (down with the Beavers!!), but there certainly wasn’t a lot of gay life then. However, one day the only man I actually had an affair with barred his door to me, you could hear he was crying as he told me he had been diagnosed HIV+, and was dropping out. Poor Randy, I’m betting he’s dead now ;-(( …
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If by gay they mean lesbian and trans then yes. Having attended U of O (06 grad) I can tell you that there is very little support or inclusiveness for gay men. In fact for almost all campus organizations gay men are little more than an afterthought. This is most apparent in the GLBT groups on campus. From day one gay men are told that they are part of the patriarchy and that they face no meaningful oppression. In other words, sit down and shut up.