A gay in the life
By Christopher DaCosta
Last week, my eyes suddenly shifted to a girl's bust -- a definite first. My eyes refocused on the white letters emblazoned across her chest, "Gay? Fine By Me." Was this the latest in humor-tee fashion by Urban Outfitters?
I remembered that the shirt was part of a project sponsored by Gay and Straight People for the Education of Diversity (GASPED) to have allies "come out" publicly against homophobia. I couldn't help but smile, not because I caught myself looking at a girl's breasts and got away with it, but because, as an openly gay student, it was comforting to see a sign of support from a stranger.
This encounter led me to ponder the hetero-centric environment at Santa Clara. With GALA being a confidential resource for gay students and GASPED providing a more public platform for issues of awareness, there is still a severe dearth of acknowledgement of LGBTQ issues among students.
For gay students, many aspects of college life also tend to be limited. That's right, at Santa Clara, same-sex make out sessions are limited to drunken girls fawning for attention from sloshed frat guys.
No one dates on our campus and the gay community is no exception. With only a handful of suitors to pick from, "Let's just be friends, OK?" has become the new gay mantra at Santa Clara. In all seriousness, the anti-relationship climate here has allowed all of us to cultivate healthy, overactive imaginations and fantasies.
I have experienced very little discrimination with regards to my sexuality at Santa Clara. Many of friends schooled at Catholic institutions their entire lives have been eager to learn what it is like to be gay.
Despite the media obsessing over the limp-wristed, style-guru gay man whose interests are shopping, listening to Britney and sipping daiquiris, many people I encounter have escaped such pigeonholing. Not all of us are divas -- keep in mind that some of us are and demand to be addressed as such. Besides, I prefer Mojitos.
Cocktails aside, the scarce representation of gays on campus is usually shattered by the turnout for the annual Drag Show taking place in May. Hopefully, all the enthusiasm and support will endure after the stilettos are hung up.
Signing off from my duties as Sex Columnist, I leave you with this: don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
* Contact Christopher DaCosta at cdacosta@scu.edu.