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The Dartmouth
July 19, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Gay College students face additional challenges

College life, for the most part, is about adjusting -- to a new schedule of sleep, classes and socializing that can be hard to settle into. The infamous Dartmouth dating scene can be especially hard to adjust to. For gay, lesbian, and transgendered students at the College, life can be especially challenging.

Levels of adjustment

Brian Jacobs '02, an openly gay student at the College, said, "It all depends how difficult you make if for yourself. I tend to hang out with people who are accepting of homosexuals ... but it's not like I run around screaming I'm gay."

According to Peter Jacobsen '00, being gay isn't "any different than being any other minority at Dartmouth."

"If you're strong you can overcome it," he said.

A male junior who wished to remain unnamed said that "the perception that it's difficult to be gay is a stereotype, it's not as true as it's made out to be. I feel that a lot of people could come out and deal with things rather easily. People have more important things to care about than this. It's not an issue with most people."

For the most part, his opinion seems to hold true. According to Jacobsen, "everyone's been pretty open-minded."

According to Margaret Smith, the coordinator of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Programming, for such students, there are three levels of being adjusted at Dartmouth.

This first group is happy with their place on campus and feel up to the challenge of changing the negative stereotypes or homophobia they face, Smith said.

The second group consists of those who are just starting to come out. According to Smith, this group feels anxiety about getting in touch with the rest of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.

Students at this level think it would be scary to be open about their sexuality, mostly because of homophobic remarks friends or classmates may make in their presence, Smith said.

The third group consists of those who are completely "in the closet," she said.

"They're just trying to figure out how to get through," Smith said.

Hidden biases

The most prevalent type of discrimination seems to be unintentional, according to students.

Prejudice becomes apparent "in the little things people say without realizing the repercussions. They may be talking to people who have family or friends" that are gay, lesbian, or transgendered, Smith said.

Sarah Burgamy '00 described common expressions such as "that was really gay" that are not intended to be malicious, but are damaging nonetheless.

The people who make these remarks "just really haven't thought about it," Burgamy said. "Homophobic jokes, things like that start to get to you, they really do."

Burgamy said, "There has been a wealth of incidents that have been very homophobic."

Gender differences have affected the degree of discrimination people face, with many acts of homophobia centering more around gay men than women.

"In general, women have been more accepting than men and for some reason, men tend to be more afraid of gay males than lesbians," Burgamy said.

Burgamy said other people have described to her of incidents where the term "fag" have been scrawled on men's bathroom walls.

Students also complained that they have faced discrimination from College employees.

"Students and faculty know how to behave," Jen Dziura '00 said. "Sometimes people who work in offices or staff members don't."

Jacobs described an incident where a Dartmouth Dining Services worker allegedly commented inappropriately on his sexual orientation.

Lack of social options

The social life of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students is generally similar to that of the undergraduate community at large -- although several students complained that the College did not support overt same-sex social activities.

"Most of the gay students I know have the same social options as other students," Burgamy said. "Occasionally they go to fraternity parties, they throw their own parties, it's kind of the same."

Jacobs said meeting other gay students is not too much of a problem because "Dartmouth has such a tight community, once you meet someone who's gay, he'll introduce you to the others."

However, Dziura said that despite the close-knit gay community, "it's pretty difficult to date people of the same sex here."

Smith attributed the feeling of isolation for many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to not only the limited social options but also to the College's rural location.

Because many are not open about their sexual orientation, it is difficult to calculate the exact number of gay students on campus, but Burgamy said the group was "fairly large."

Jacobsen estimated about 200 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered students to be on campus -- 40 or 50 of whom are openly gay.

Campus resources

Despite the resource networks currently in place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students on campus, several students said such resources weren't enough.

Burgamy criticized the network, saying "there really isn't a support system."

Dziura said she would like to see increased social options -- not support groups -- for gay students on campus

"Every time there's a dance or something, it gets turned into a support group," Dziura said. "I don't want just a support group."

For now, Smith asks students to "confront and challenge homophobic remarks."

Smith's forecast for the future is mixed.

She compared the College with the rest of society, saying "if people aren't able to correct a lot of information they're taught so that homophobia is still out there, then [change] is difficult."

Smith said her goals for the College is to make it "the coolest campus in the U.S.A.... to continue and increase our reputation in how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender friendly we are."