Duke It Out: Gay Affirmative Action

October 15, 2010 9:00 am     Posted in Reality  Lauren H - The New School g+ page

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. Sometimes with mean words. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like whether we date men like our dads!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]


By Lauren H

It’s no secret that getting admission to a college (especially big names like the Ivy League) is kind of a crap shoot. Sure, you need the grades, the activities, the involvement; but we all also know that sometimes you can give your application a little nudge that has nothing to do with academics. Your parents worked two jobs each to help take care of you and your three siblings and it taught you the value of responsibility and family — admissions gold. Or you spent half of your childhood in another country and had to learn the wonder and struggles of adapting your proud cultural heritage to life in the Midwest — brilliant. These kinds of things have been a leg-up in the admissions process for years and now, it turns out, there’s a brand new one that schools are actively seeking out — LGBT.

That’s right, when just a couple of decades ago many people couldn’t RISK coming out in college, now schools are trying to recruit applicants from the LGBT community and while I have no qualms about that, I gotta wonder if it’s fair.

I have a long-standing record on this column of being pro gay rights, and that’s not a streak I plan on breaking, but this is one area where I have some serious mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s great that schools are being active with the gay community and embracing their students’ sexualities as a part of who they are. It’s wonderful that they’re going to an effort to show students that they can be open, active and comfortable in their school and embracing that the challenges faced by many LGBT students are character shaping  and meaningful. Good job, colleges! It’s also not really affirmative action, so it’s not as though schools are trying to fill a certain quota; it’s just that if a good applicant comes along with the added twist of being LGBT, then it might give him or her a little boost.

No, the problem I have with this idea isn’t really about gay students getting a leg-up on the competition because of their sexuality or maybe taking a slot away from someone else based on that – though it is possible – my real problem is the implications for the gay communities within these schools. First of all, while I hate to think it, it would be a hell of a lot easier to fake a traumatic coming out story than something like, coming from a low-income family. It’s not really something admissions officers can check up on and there probably are dishonest students who would fake it or play up their own less dramatic experiences just to edge out the competition. There’s also the issue of creating an archetype for the gay student. Schools aren’t  just going around asking recruits if they’re LGBT, they see activism on transcripts with a certain expectation that it will continue – that an LGBT recruit won’t just be a student, but an involved, gay student. And while getting involved in the community is great, it puts a pressure on the student to be a certain kind of gay student – to be out and active and “gay.” There’s a lot more to an individual than their sexuality and to fit them into one little box, to put so much emphasis on who you are sexually, is kind of discrimination in reverse.

So what do you think? Should school’s look at something like sexuality when choosing students? Is being LGBT suddenly an unfair admissions advantage over straight students? Is it good or bad for the LGBT community? Duke it out!

In the mood for a good fight? Sound off in Lauren’s other battles.

10 Comments on "Duke It Out: Gay Affirmative Action"

  1. Summer says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 20104:57 am 

    Like you, I'm VERY pro- gay rights. The biggest issue here to me is that it seems like an open door for more division between the gay and straight communities

    We all learned in psych 101 that racism or sexism differs from prejudice in that it is only defined by a differentiating treatment between 2 groups. Prejudice may or may not follow, characterized by anger or hate.

    While affirmative action is done in good spirit, it is still an action that divides the two groups. I would hate to think that prejudice would follow, aided and abetted by the anger of those who were overlooked by admissions

  2. L says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 20108:09 am 

    I'm pro gay rights, but I agree with Summer in that it divides the two groups even more. I can see it building resentment among the straight kids who were too boring to get in, and while the resentment should be aimed at the school, there will be simpler folks who will blame the LGBT community for taking their opportunity.

  3. Ashley says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 20109:50 am 

    I dislike the concept of affirmative action in the first place. Sure, everyone wants diversity, but at what price? Applications shouldn't have a place to discuss your race, or or your sexual preference. Admissions should be based on merit, not who you date and not what color your skin is.

  4. Shane Windmeyer says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 201011:51 am 

    When colleges come out as gay-friendly and participate in a the Campus Pride LGBT-friendly College Fair or LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org), they are not giving any special treatment to gays. None of these colleges have special preferential admissions for LGBT students. No college admits a gay applicant more than any other applicant. The issue is that nearly a quarter of LGBT students still face harassment on campuses across the country. LGBT students have no idea which colleges are willing to take responsibility for a safe learning environment. At a typical college fair the questions that a gay student might ask are either not known by the admissions rep or the gay student does not always feel comfortable asking. So there are many more perspectives to share here. But please know that no college admits a gay student just for being gay. Thank you for allowing this post to clarify matters.

  5. Matthew says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 20103:48 pm 

    There's a lot of pressure on anyone to go to college. Giving preference because of sexual orientation is a form of discrimination same as religious preference, ethnic, or race. There's already enough of a divide between the two communities, this is one more wedge.

  6. criolle johnny says:
    Fri, 15th Oct 20105:20 pm 

    No.

  7. Mike says:
    Sat, 16th Oct 20102:46 am 

    What can I, as a white, heterosexual male from an upper middle-class family do to enhance my college application?

    As I see it, applicants of other cultural backgrounds, incomes and sexualities are at an unfair advantage. Actually, come to think of it – that might just be the perfect basis for my application! Thanks CollegeCandy!

  8. Emily says:
    Tue, 19th Oct 20101:04 pm 

    I agree with most of the comments. I'm not gay, but my best friend is, so I know the struggles bi/gay/lesbians face, even now in our "progressive" society. But colleges, or any other place that requires an application (job, military, etc), have no right to ask about sexuality, just as much as they have little to no right to ask about race or religion. Applications should be based on the criteria for the position they are being accepted. Affirmative action, in my opinion, is flipping the prejudice. If you hire someone because they're a woman and you don't want to appear misogynistic while a man is better qualified, you're still being prejudice because you're not hiring the better qualified male simply because he's male. The same goes for race, religion and sexual orientation.

  9. Hanna says:
    Sun, 11th Nov 20128:53 pm 

    Okay. So I'm in the unique position of actually being an underrepresented minority and a lesbian applying to college right now. I've actually already sent in an application including an essay about my sexual orientation. I also applied to a few summer programs earlier this year writing essays that–you guessed it–talked about my sexuality. Why?
    Because I couldn't write around it. I didn't say I was gay on my application to increase my chances of going to a certain school, though I knew it was. It's because, when I saw all the topics I could write about, that was the first thing that came to mind. I couldn't write a dynamic essay without including my struggle with my sexuality.
    (I should probably add that I'm technically questioning. I alternate between identifying as a lesbian, not being sure, and freaking out and saying I'm questioning even though I'm not. But I didn't mention that on my application because my goal on the application was to be completely honest with myself, and I think I'm gay, if any of that makes sense.)
    But to answer the question. I don't think regular or gay affirmative action are bad . Imagine if it didn't exist. Colleges would be homogenous, filled with mostly higher-income white people. The point of college, besides preparing for a career, is to expose you to a variety of people and ideas. That can't happen if everyone is from your background. Plus, standardized test scores can only explain how a person will do so far. Sometimes if they have another defining trait, such as sexual orientation or race, they have higher motivation and will do just as well in college as people with higher test scores and a more popular race.

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