Yale, Totally Gay
Yale students are no doubt happy, but are they also gayer than their counterparts at other schools? That according to the latest issue of Yale Alumni Magazine, whose cover purports to explain "Why They Call Yale the Gay Ivy." What you find out quickly is the reason they call Yale the Gay Ivy is because they call it the Gay Ivy.
In addition to the 1987 declaration "Suddenly Yale is a gay school," the assiduous editors offer such hard-hitting journalism as citing Wikipedia (but who doesn't?) and availing themselves of that old saw, anecdotal evidence:
Yale probably does, however, have a higher proportion of gay students than other Ivies; there are no statistics, but many gay Yale students think it's true. And if you walk around campus for a while on your visit, you may see a gay couple holding hands.
Well, if Yale students think it's true, it must be. The fact gay Yalies are more comfortable holding hands than they might at, say, Princeton, where the gay community reportedly turns to Craig's List for discreet hook-ups, supports the claim a bit more, though.
After the jump: how Yale came out, angry alumni commenters, and Patrick Bateman explains how he knew Yale was the Gay Ivy all along.
In order to provide more context and a scholarly perspective on how Yale became the Gay Ivy, the magazine features a piece titled "Gay at Yale: How Things Changed" by history professor and alumnus George Chauncey. Chauncey, whose books include Gay New York, explores the transformation of Yale from a free-wheeling cross-dressing hub of homoeroticisim in the nineteenth century to a straight-laced homophobic institution in the mid-twentieth century and back again in recent years.
For their part, the alumni commenters don't seem to be very happy about that whole Yale thing.
Paul Loomis, '60 of Vancouver, BC wrote, "For sure, I would be very uncomfortable being a Yalie now as I am sure most of my former classmates would be." In the category of best Orthodox Jewish call for repressive behavior, Leonard J. Horowitz, '73, of Cleveland, OH:
It would seem that refraining from homosexual behavior has gone the way of refraining from work on the Sabbath.
According to Chauncey, though, Elis are becoming more open about and accepting of the LGBTQRSTUVWXYZ community by the moment. Of the 60 students in Chauncey's most recent gay history lecture, half of them could have followed their course selection with "no homo." That means half of them were straight, old people. A freshman in Chauncey's class even reported changing his previously conservative views on homosexuality after mere weeks of positive interactions with gay peers on campus. Either that or he was looking for an A by sucking up to the professor. No homo.
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July 21st, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Yknow, here at Columbia I would put the ratio at 1 in 4. I remember a freshman lecture we were 10 boys and 5 were most definitely gay.
I can’t imagine a higher ratio than that. It would just seem like a statistical oddity.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Clearly no one has visited Providence in A GOOD LONG WHILE.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:03 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFLPn30dvQ
“Thank you sir, may I have another…”
July 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pm
The only people who think Yale has the most gays is Yale. Brown and Columbia have a much higher percentage. If I were gay in high school, I’d definitely choose a city with a vibrant gay community (New York or Providence) over a crime-ridden city where the only potential dates are a minority of other students.
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 am
The suggestion that Yale is more of a “gay campus” than Brown is pretty ridiculous.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:38 am
I am overjoyed at this news of Brown being a super gay campus. My grad school years will not be loveless! I mean, pleasureless and moneyless, but not loveless.
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
And obviously people haven’t seen Penn lately, either. (which btw, has the largest, most-resourced LGBT Center in the country.)
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am
I think we can all agree that Princeton and Dartmouth aside, which favor the closeted fratbro handy, we’re all having a gay old time at the ivies.
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
What’s with the flag of the Jewish Autonomous Region?
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Anyone who thinks that New Haven is just a “crime ridden city” and/or is lacking a “vibrant gay community” hasn’t visited Yale in A GOOD LONG WHILE!
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
You all seem to only think about undergrads. Yale has an Art School, Architecture School, Drama School, Music School, and a DIVINITY SCHOOL! Enough said.