The Nevada Sagebrush - » Homosexuals need more exposure to fight stereotypes

Homosexuals need more exposure to fight stereotypes

By Ricardo Lopez
Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 @ 9:30 pm

Months ago, when I decided to attend the University of Nevada, Reno, I was apprehensive about moving to Reno. I wasn’t apprehensive for the same reasons as other students. Some of my friends worried about leaving home for the first time, others worried about the rigor of college courses and some worried about sharing a dorm room with a bad roommate. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about Reno’s tolerance for diversity. Not because I’m Hispanic, but because I am gay.

I asked former students and graduates of UNR and they all generally said the same thing. My boss at work, for example, went to school here for three years before he finished his degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While he liked UNR, he dubbed Reno the “White Trash Capital of the World.” The way he put it, if you can’t afford to go to Vegas, you go to Reno.

Still, I decided to give Reno a try, maybe more so because I couldn’t afford the tuition at universities like Boston or American.

I soon learned college was significantly different from high school. Here, I was just another face in the crowd. Classes featured a myriad of ages. In my political science class alone, a handful of 30-something-year-olds are returning to college to get their degrees.

Furthermore, nobody seems to care I am gay. Or rather, they don’t know. I mean, I don’t necessarily look gay, act gay or greet people, “Hi, I’m Ricardo and I like boys.”

That, however, is school. Living in the residence halls feels like I’m back in the hallways of my high school. For one, most of the dorm residents are fresh out of high school. And two, once some of the male residents learned I am gay, the questions began. But like high school, they didn’t ask me. They asked my roommate.

“So, is he really gay?” and “What’s it like living with a gay roommate?”

“It’s cool,” my roommate would say, not speaking a beat.

When my roommate told me about that conversation, I felt uneasy. My neighbors and I had never really talked, just curt nods of acknowledgment as we walk to our separate rooms on the floor. I felt they had a predisposition about gay guys, as most people naturally do. I felt cheated. I felt judged.

But just as quickly as those feelings arose, they quickly faded away. I realized how suddenly I began to judge them as homophobic, close-minded and rude. I, the person who hates being judged, did exactly that.

I came to college with many goals. Among them, I hoped to meet new people, learn life lessons and grow up. Part of that growing up includes not playing the victim when it comes to being the “gay guy,” as I’m inclined to do sometimes.

With this column I’ve developed new goals. One of those is to create and foster understanding between the LGBT community and the straight world. I hope that you, the readers, are unafraid to ask questions and initiate discussion on such matters. Only through dialogue, through social interaction will stereotypes slowly begin to disappear. I think in college we can do without them.

In retrospect, I wish my floormates had asked me that question, “Are you really gay?” The answer is, yes, I am. But why should that matter?

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 9:30 pm and is filed under Perspectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Homosexuals need more exposure to fight stereotypes

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