The Gay Community Strives at OU

Being a freshman in college is hard, but try adding being gay and life might get a little bit more complicated.

Freshmen face many experiences when they enter college.  There is a new found freedom and responsibility that encompasses them.  Most students deal with the struggle of time management, their new independence and some even deal with being homesick.  However, with all of these stresses students who may be homosexual deal with the stress of being themselves without being discriminated and the struggle of finding new friends.  The lack of knowledge among people who are uninformed about gay people is the source behind the stress.

Skyler Elliot is a freshman at the University of Oklahoma majoring in Political Science with hopes of going to law school.  He is like any other freshman student at OU, and he is also gay.  He first came out to his close friends his sophomore year of high school one Friday evening at a friend’s house.  It was difficult, but Elliot felt relieved once he told his friends.  Eventually he told his best friend, which involved many tears, but Elliot was proud he had no secrets with his friends anymore.  “It was an emotional experience, but it became easier every time because you assume people know after you have told more and more people,” Elliot said.  Elliot is not an easily embarrassed person, so when people ask him questions he is happy to answer them.  “In college, if people don’t agree with it or like it, they won’t generally say anything, but some people will ask questions because they are curious and want to be more educated,” Elliot said. 

On every college campus there are people who either accept or do not accept homosexual people.  However, with the younger generations growing older, the concept of accepting everyone for who they are as a person is reflected by how young people feel about controversial topics.  According to the New Yorker, “Younger evangelicals are more open to gay rights than older evangelicals.”  Younger generations are more understanding of gay people because they have grown up where they have been present.  Also, successful television shows like Modern Family portray gay men in a way that creates a positive reflection of gay men.  “Yes it gives the stereotype that gay men are feminine, but I think it is a good show because younger kids will watch that and they will see that it is normal, everyday life,” Elliot said.

At the University of Oklahoma, there are many clubs and groups that make each and every kind of person feel comfortable on campus.  Elliot is apart of the LGBTQ Program, which stands for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Program.  The program’s main purpose is to advise Student Affairs on program opportunities that will help to educate and to build awareness and support for the LGBTQ students as well as the broader campus community.  The program puts on Candlelight Vigils, a Coming Out Day Resource Fair along with other events that bring members of the program closer together.  KatieBeth Gardner, a member of the LGBTQ Advisory Board, said, “I enjoy working with and on behalf of the LGBTQ community because everything we do has a larger purpose than just having a fun event.”  Gardner has been bullied for being involved in the LGBTQ program, even though she is a straight ally for the program.  Her purpose is to help those who need a supportive person in their life because some homosexuals experience abandonment from their parents, families and friends.

The University of Oklahoma offers many opportunities for gay students to feel connected and a part of the campus.  The gay community is a strong and united group that will make great progress in the future.  The world is opening its eyes to these different lifestyles.  It may take time, but hopefully one day there will not be an issue with gay people.  People need to be more informed and to base their judgment on the subject from an educated understanding.  The issue of homosexuals needs not be controversial, it just needs to be understood and accepted.  Elliot said, “If someone told me they weren’t okay with it, but that they made their opinion sound educated, I would be okay with it because at least they understand.”