A Lesbigay Guide to Selecting the Best-Fit College or University and Enjoying the College Years
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About this ebook
The confusion he experienced during college, and the distress and intolerance he witnessed and heard about from students, lead him to realize that some college and university environments are simply not healthy places for LGBT young people to learn and grow and to sort out their own sexuality.
This book documents the problems LGBT students might encounter on campus, and provides advice on how LGBT students can select the best-fit college or university for them."
-Bill Hinrichs
Donald W. Hinrichs
Donald W. Hinrichs earned a BA in sociology from McDaniel College, an MA in sociology from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in sociology from The Ohio State University. For thirty-seven years, he taught sociology and anthropology at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. In 2004, he retired to Montreal, Canada, where he now teaches urban sociology part time at McGill University. Dr. Hinrichs is the author of two other books published by iUniverse: My Life, Our Lives: Shared Experiences Through Poetry and A Lesbigay Guide to Selecting the Best-Fit College and University and Enjoying the College Years.
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A Lesbigay Guide to Selecting the Best-Fit College or University and Enjoying the College Years - Donald W. Hinrichs
A LesBiGay Guide to
Selecting the Best-Fit College
or University
and
Enjoying the College Years
Donald W. Hinrichs, PhD
iUniverse, Inc.
New York Lincoln Shanghai
A LesBiGay Guide to Selecting the Best-Fit College or University
and
Enjoying the College Years
Copyright © 2007 by Donald W. Hinrichs
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any
means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the
written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
iUniverse
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100
Lincoln, NE 68512
www.iuniverse.com
1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)
The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby
disclaims any responsibility for them.
ISBN: 978-0-595-43665-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-595-87994-6 (ebk)
Contents
Acknowledgements
Beginning Note
Introduction
Why This Guide Is For You and
Not About Faculty
Why You Should Expect a Good
Campus Climate as an LGBT Student
Why You Should Know What the
Campus Environment Is Like for Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender
Persons Before You Enroll
Small Colleges, Large
Universities, and Their Location:
Which Is Best for You?
Factors Affecting the Campus Climate
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Persons
Interviewing Colleges and
Universities
Quick Check List for Interviewing Colleges and Universities
Rating the College or University
Hinrichs’ Queer Climate Scale
You Are on Campus—Now What?
Should You Come Out on Campus?
A Note to Bisexuals
Endnotes
APPENDIX 1
Religious Views on Homosexuality
APPENDIX 2
Recommended Books
References
Acknowledgements
I want to acknowledge the role that many people played in my life and thus in the inspiration for this book, and those who helped specifically with this manuscript.
First, I need to acknowledge my parents, Laura Glendora and Raymond W. Hinrichs, who taught me tolerance in the midst of tremendous hostility in society against African Americans, Jews, and of course, homosexual persons. They also provided me with many opportunities they did not have, including the gift of a college education.
I want to thank my children, Terri P. Williams and Ryan Zahn Hinrichs. Their strength and resilience and eventual support when I came out and their mother and I divorced has truly been an inspiration. Their continued love, support and acceptance of my partners has made all the difference.
My former wife, Martha McLaren, deserves both recognition and thanks for her patience and understanding as I struggled for years during our marriage with issues related to my sexual orientation. She encouraged, supported, and participated in months of counseling. She always put family and our children ahead of the hurt I caused when we decided to divorce. She has remained a good friend.
I need to acknowledge my brother, William J. Hinrichs, who struggled with his own sexuality for many years. His support during some dark times in my life and our discussions about issues of sexuality helped clarify my own thinking. His life ended tragically and suddenly in the midst of a crisis over his own sexuality.
It is important for me to remember Robert E. Tarner, my first partner. Bob was tortured his entire life by the rejection of some close family members and by terrible harassment by school peers because he was gay. He found beauty in things but not in himself or his life. He taught me about the terrible intolerance that many LGBT persons endure and the serious consequences that many suffer. His life ended suddenly in despair.
P. M. D’Auria is a friend who first showed me some of the world outside of the USA, and helped me discover things about myself that I did not know.
I want to acknowledge and thank Abdelghani Ben Rafalia, my spouse (in Canada), and friend. He shows me every day the meaning of love and the glories of that wonderful connection that can occur between two persons. He teaches me daily how to live a more healthy and simplistic life.
This book would not have been possible without the moral support of the faculty and staff of Gettysburg College. Also, College grant money helped support my extensive research project on LGBT college and university students in 1995 and the subsequent documentary film, From the Hallowed Halls of Ivy: LGBT Students Speak Out About Their Experiences on Campus.
A few people deserve special recognition for their assistance with this specific project. Anne Marie Cusack, my daughter-in-law, reviewed the text for coherence, clarity, and grammar. VoonChin Phua, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Gettysburg College, provided some helpful suggestions. Pamela J. Rosenberg, a former colleague in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Gettysburg College, helped to sort, analyze, and interpret the data I collected from LGBT students, and provided considerable insight as I worked on my various projects.
Finally, I want to thank all of the LGBT students who willingly talked to me about their experiences on their college and university campuses and inspired this book, and those students in my Gay and Lesbian Studies class at Gettysburg College, acknowledged in my film, for reviewing this text for content.
Beginning Note
On one episode of the television show, Mash,
Hawkeye Pierce quipped,
The Problem is that everyone is looking for a perfect fit in an off-the-rack world.
The world is not perfect for anyone, but it is more imperfect for some than others. Certainly, for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, the world is far from perfect.