GLBTQ and College

Well, my college plans have changed a bit.

I was planning for quite some time to head to the University of London for my higher education. The UK is more progressive than the US is about transgender and GLBTQ people, both socially and legally. Besides, I think London would be an amazing place to live, even if the cost of living is high. I'm a city gal--or at least, I hope to be.

Anyway, I found a very useful website called the Campus Climate Index. It rates all sorts of American schools based on their friendliness towards GLBTQ people, and has a breakdown of the various areas--transgender accommodations, safety, health, general GLBTQ information. Searching through the list of schools, I found one that looks perfect for me.

Goodbye, University of London. Hello, University of California, Berkeley.

Every single imaginable option on the list of GLBTQ concerns has a positive rating. Transgender students can be housed in the dorm of their internal gender, and they--get this!--even cover hormone replacement therapy in their insurance. How perfect is that? So perfect. This is an incredibly prestigious school. The average weighted GPA for entering freshman is 4.4--that's a perfect environment for someone like me.

I'm really excited by the location, too. This is California, right outside San Francisco. Aside from the Prop 8 nastiness going on recently, this is pretty much the GLBTQ capital of the world, as far as I've heard. I can't think of a better place for me to come of age in. One thing's for sure--it certainly beats the American Midwest in terms of safety and understanding.

Life is good.