GAY LIFE AT HARVARD

Many gay Harvard first-year men and women coming from traditional homes and high schools expect college to be a liberating experience.

Imagine their surprise when in the College's orientation packet, they receive a student publication, conservative magazine Peninsula, that called their sexual orientation a "bad alternative."

"It was a shock," says Royce Lin '96, a Greenough resident. "It didn't really scare me, but it did make me angry."

Lin, who hails from Orange County, Calif., says he visited Harvard during pre-frosh week last year and discovered that the College did not fit "the Harvard myth of a stuck-up, preppy school."

The Peninsula's November issue, which featured an exploding pink triangle on the cover, called on gay students to attend counseling sessions and rethink their way of life. The issue sparked a series of student protests and inspired two respected faculty members to reveal their homosexuality.

Says Lin, "I knew Peninsula did not represent what the majority of students at Harvard feel."

Most gay students seem to agree that Harvard as a whole is a relatively welcoming and tolerant place, but many say they can cite instances of campus intolerance.

"I think that Harvard in general is very tolerant," says Javier Romero '95, co-vice chair of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Student Association (BGLSA). "But I think that there's a lot of underlying homophobia."

Last year's Peninsula issue and an anti-gay slur posted on a Lowell House student's door were the most blatant anti-gay actions. But more subtle indications of hostility are also prevalent, say some gay students.

BGLSA leaders say, for instance, that the organization's posters are often torn down almost immediately, especially in certain houses.

In another example, Benjamin F. Bruch '94 says a friend overheard a Harvard guard slurring gays. The friend, who notified his house's authorities about the incident, was told that sensitivity training for the guard was useless, Bruch says.

And Sheila C. Allen '93 says she remembers a Harvard Law student urinating through the window screen of the Adams House dining hall and yelling anti-gay comments.

"I don't think I've ever been personally called any bad names," Allen says, "but you don't feel exempt from the possibility of things happening to you."

Students also agree that tolerance and openness varies from house to house. A number name Kirkland and Eliot as houses with an unfriendly image among gays, while Dunster, Lowell, Adams and the co-ops were often cited as welcoming and comfortable places for people of all sexual orientations.

"I have a friend who lives in Kirkland who says she's really afraid to be out [of the closet] there just because of the attitude of the house," says Cynthia R. Phillips '95.

But Kirkland Senior Tutor Garth O. McCavana says that, because of non-ordered choice, the house population is now home to a "much broader spectrum of the University as a whole."

"I've certainly heard it [that Kirkland is not tolerant]," he says. "Like most stereotypes, I don't think it's valid."

And Eliot resident William T. Dougherty '93 disputes charges that his house is hostile to gays.

"I am comfortable here," says Dougherty, who is an editor of the gay magazine Hq. "[But] there are other people who come in from Adams who feel very uncomfortable."

Eliot is not anti-gay, he says, but it is "socially very rigid" and overtly political or controversial behavior is frowned upon by house residents.

The distinction that Dougherty draws between those gay students who feel comfortable in Eliot and some who do not is an important one, he says. Not all gay students conform to the flamboyant stereotype of a man in "pink chiffon."

The gay community is far from a monolithic one, according to Dougherty. Other students agree. "Too often at Harvard, gay issues are equated with liberal or radical issues," Dougherty says. "We have all these different viewpoints--there is no one gay agenda."

In a population estimated at 600, gay students say, there can be no single personality or way of living--a fact they say people ignorant of Harvard's gay population often do not consider or realize.

There exists a large number of gay students who have not declared themselves publicly gay, otherwise known as "coming out of the closet." No one knows how large this group is, but some believe it could be the majority of Harvard's gay students.

Students who do decide to come out at Harvard can draw on a large network of support groups. The most prominent student organization for bisexual, gay and lesbian students is the BGLSA, which functions both as a social and political organization.

"Because it's the main organization for bisexuals, gays and lesbians, we have to be a social organization," says BGLSA co-chair John A. Frazier '95. "We also have to make a strong political presence, make our voice heard."

A number of students say they meet people and gain an essential sense of community through the BGLSA. The group holds weekly meetings and sponsors dances every month.

However, others say many students have little to do with it--socially or politically. Another gay population, one which tends to remain strictly to itself, centers around organizations like the Hasty Pudding, some final clubs and certain singing groups, according to Timothy M. Hall '93, an Hq editor.

Such students "tend to be conservative, sociable and closetted," says Hall. In addition, this gay population tends to remain strictly to itself, he says.

"They don't write letters to The Crimson saying 'I'm gay and you've offended me,' they don't go to rallies, they don't go to BGLSA meetings," Bruch says.

Another social locus for the lesbians and bisexual women student population is supplied by activities such as women's discussion group 7th Sense and the feminist magazine The Rag.

"Politically, [gay men and women] are a some-what cohesive group," says BGLSA Co-Chair Season N. Ray '93-94. "[But] socially women are pretty separate from men....I think a lot of out women hang out together."

The co-ops are a part of of gay social life as well. Students say the population of gay and bisexual women is especially strong at the Dudley co-ops, although one woman resident says that such perceptions are not as true now as they were last year. They supply a friendly atmosphere but are not a "rolicking scene," says Ray.

Gay, lesbian and bisexual students who frequent gay bars and clubs are another subgroup of the gay community. Clubs like Club Cafe and Indigo can be a place of escape for homosexual people, Dougherty says, since it is "still very taboo for men to walk hand in hand," even at Harvard.

"There are certain places in Boston where gay men can go and have anonymous sex," he says, adding that some students use these place for escape.

Bisexuals are also a distinct group, both within and outside the gay community. They face issues that are unique. For instance, bisexuals are often blamed for the spread of AIDS, Ray says.

Bisexuals are also perceived as less threatening by the straight community, says Ray. This may be why, within the gay community, some bisexuals are "asked to prove their queerness more," she says.

Despite all of these perceived cliques, gay students stress that no generalization can cover the social life of a gay population which is as diverse as Harvard's straight community.

As with straight students, gay relationships range from long-term to brief one-night stands, say gay undergraduates. Gay students, like their straight counterparts, spend time with friends they met through shared interests and activities, they say.

"Most of my social life is hanging out with small groups of friends whether they're gay or straight," says David L. Duncan '93, who is president of the Harvard Democrats.

"In one sense, I'm part of a gay social life, but in another sense I'm not part of it at all," says Joel L. Derfner '95, who is treasurer of the BGLSA. He spends a great deal of his time with friends met through theater and music, he says.

Harvard Can Do More

Yet, despite the diversity in Harvard's gay social scene, some students say the College can do more to make the University a welcoming place for gay, lesbian and bisexual students.

For starters, gay students unanimously call for strong opposition to the presence of ROTC on campus.

"Obviously [ROTC] is discriminatory and not compatible with what the University says its position is," Frazier says.

The University should also end its present unofficial policy of discouraging house transfer requests, which are based on sexual orientation issues, according to a large number of gay students.

Dean of Housing Thomas A. Dingman '67 says that the usual response to such requests is to "urge the student to go back and talk to the people who have responsibility for the house" rather than to allow the student to transfer.

Such a policy "sort of assumes that people have the responsibility to educate people around them," says BGLSA Co-Chair Rachel E. Cohen '94. She is "not happy about that policy."

The College could also help create a gay student center, say Smith and students. This would help foster close ties between gay undergraduates, graduates and faculty, says Warren Goldfarb '69, professor of sociology.

The presence of openly gay administrators and faculty could also be increased, says Thurston Smith, director of Harvard Network for Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Issues. Smith is also the College's point person on issues concerning sexual orientation.

As for the houses, gay students say administrators and house masters can do more to improve the College's tolerance level.

One important indication of openness is welcoming gay student groups' activities, they say. Lowell House's masters, who joined a sit-in in their dining hall in protest of last year's slurs, made a strong statement of support, Frazier says.

In addition, Cohen says she would like more forums and conversations on gay issues to be presented, especially to first-years.

Although few deem them totally adequate, the College's present efforts form a good foundation, students say.

Groups like CONTACT, which is a support group mostly aimed at gay and bisexual students, and a new counseling session to address the issue of coming out--sponsored by University Health Services--are steps in the right direction, they say.

College officials say that although gay students want more done, Harvard is committed to establishing an environment comfortable for gays.

"I don't know the answer, but I think the College has attempted to create a tolerant environment, where people don't need to be concerned about their sexual orientation," says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III.