Homophobia

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CTNeuro20

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Hi - this is an odd one to some, I'm sure - but I am hours away from submitting the AMCAS application and I am trying to finalize my list. Now there seems to exist one last hurdle - medical school gay-friendliness. And this mostly applies to Baylor, UT-Southwestern, Duke & WashU. Unlike my other schools, the 4 mentioned are in areas that are not necessarily like New England and I am determined to be in a gay-friendly and supportive environment. I would really appreciate comments from fellow SDNers...
CTneuro20 - go Connecticut...
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I can't speak for Baylor, but Dallas is a gay-friendly city. I don't know specifically about Southwestern, but from living in Fort Worth most of my life, I have a feeling you wouldn't encounter problems there. That's just my gut feeling--coming from a hetero pre-med from Fort Worth who only occasionally makes it into Dallas (which does have a very rich gay nightlife). Perhaps you could check out student organizations at those schools? I know many undergrad campuses have gay/lesbian organizations; if any med schools do too, I would imagine they could be considered gay-friendly.
 
HI, I would agree with the above post. Dallas has quite a large gay community. It is quite different than that of New England. I don't think you will go wrong with any of your choices.
 
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definitely the bay area - - stanford, ucsf
 
I went to Duke for undergrad, and people there generally seemed to be completely friendly and supportive of homosexuals. There are multiple campus organizations, both student-run and university-run (http://lgbt.studentaffairs.duke.edu/), dedicated to supporting and addressing potential problems of homosexual students. I can't really tell you what it's like to be gay on campus, and the medical school atmosphere might be different. However, I had several friends who were homo/bisexual and they seemed generally happy. Some of them complained about the dating scene, but half of them were in relationships.

As you might imagine, there are isolated pockets of bigotry and homophobia. However, they tend to be marginalized and don't really influence the campus atmosphere.
 
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm thank you all for your input! As far as student organizations - I could not find anything @ Baylor or UT Souhtwestern medical schools - I'm sure the undergrad programs have glbt organizations. Along the same lines - my dad is of the opinion that I should not put down my involvement with the GLBT organization @ my school - as some adcomm members may be biased. I also will ask my supervisor from Harvard to see his opinion. I have to submit this application soon - and I really do want to put down my GLBT involvement - because I was involved and I am involved and I have nothing to be ashamed of - this is the 21st century - but obviously, I agree, there are still pockets (or more than just pockets) of homophobia, racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and generalized biggotry that one can find out there. I have nothing against the Midwest or Texas - but I just feel a bit more comfortable here (NYC or Boston would be optimal probably). I would go to Texas for the winter weather - get sick of it up here sometime.
ctneuro20
 
No matter where you go, you'll come across homophobic people (ignorant pricks). Just stay true to yourself!
 
do not be afraid of being yourself.

washu is located in the central west end. this area used to (and still is to some extent) be known as the "gay" center of st louis. overall, st louis is a fairly conservative city with catholic values, but i do not think you will have any problem with the people at washu.
 
Think of it this way.

If you don't put down your involvement in the GLBT organization, wouldn't you be creating a false image of your true self? To carry this one step further, if a school accepts you based on the image you created (which lacked the GLBT involvement aspects), you might get some additional flack for being unexpectedly fervent about your beliefs, because said school might have rejected you otherwise.

Why would you want to go to a school that hinged its acceptance on whether or not you were involved with the GLBT association?

I think you're battling between the fear of not getting in because of divulging too much information, vs. being true to your self.

...
Best of luck with the application! :thumbup: :luck:
 
as long as you can handle the med school workload, your peers could careless about your sexual orientation.
 
I agree with the idea of being true to myself - but I am rather hearing mixed opinions about presenting my gay identity or not. I have thusfar encountered very little homophobia in the science world - but that has mostly been at research institutes - individual medical schools may be different. I have to submit my application tomorrow - and I will include the GLBT part in it. This is the 21st century and the US of A. yay...
ctneuro20
 
Just a quick FYI: a close friend of mine applied to UT-Houston and mentioned being gay in his personal statement. He was applying MD/PhD like me, the program accepted him (without reservations, he's a great guy) and the med school TURNED HIM DOWN FLAT. Essentially, the dean was a complete homophobe. Jerk. Anyway, there was a potential lawsuit, lots of problems, and he ended up elsewhere. Thank goodness the dean is no longer here (and I've never seen any homophobia from other people here). Houston's a great place for gays (the med center is 5min from Montrose, the gay/party/fun/eclectic/intellectual district). It's also a good school with a good MD/PhD program, and I highly recommend it.
 
I know what its like to be ridiculed being a minority myself. I'd suggest that you go to a large city in any case. Larger cities at least on the surface seem to be more indifferent/accepting of minorities and gays. This is just my experience.
 
I agree - I ultimately want to be in NYC or Boston - I'm just most comfortable there - I dropped UTSouthwestern and Baylor - friends and parents convinced me that Texas isn't for me. There is just something about pick-up trucks with shotguns in the back windows that would make me miss my good old days in Boston and enjoying a Euro-hyped, brownstone city with class. Even though the weather is crap...ctneuro20
 
Actually - that wasn't fair to Texas - it's a cool state - I've even got family there, but it's all about personal preference. All those fellow SDNers in Texas - I'm sure you're having a great time. To each his own....ctneuro20
 
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