Despite describing the UA as gay-friendly, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students say they still experience anti-gay sentiments in their dorms and on campus.
Alex Grubb, a journalism sophomore, said he was only slightly worried about coming to the UA and living in the dorms after reading that the UA was ranked in the top 50 for gay-friendly schools on the Web site gay.com.
He said his roommate freshman year was not very accepting of his sexuality, which made visits by gay friends awkward and uncomfortable. Grubb also said people have written anti-gay comments on his door, but he just shrugs those off.
Doug Mathern said he was terrified to move into the dorms and get a homophobic roommate. The chemistry sophomore got just the opposite.
"Everyone on my wing is cool with it," he said. "I don't get anything negative."
Mathern said most people were curious about his sexuality and asked him questions like, "What do you like about guys?"
Michael Abou-zeid, a business freshman, said living with gay people in the dorms wouldn't bother him. If he were to have a gay roommate, he said it might take time to get used to it, but as long as they respected each other, he would have no issues with it.
Brian Shimamoto, assistant director for multicultural education and advocacy, pointed out some of the small things that can create a hostile environment for gays on campus.
"People won't casually walk down the hall and say 'nigger,' but will still say 'queer' or 'fag,'" he said.
Shimamoto said hearing comments that use the word "gay" in a negative context can deter someone who may be thinking about coming out.
"I can guarantee that I can walk through the union for 30 minutes and hear 'Don't be a fag,' or 'That's so gay,'" he said.
Shimamoto said he has only heard of two instances this school year regarding roommates in dorms that have reported problems due to a resident's sexual orientation. But he added he only hears about documented cases.
"More often than not, it's not reported," he said.
"We know there are good numbers of students out there for whom sexual identification is something that comes up while (they are) undergrads," said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life. "It's not the easiest thing to deal with."
One of Shimamoto's jobs on campus is to coordinate the SafeZone program, which trains people to be allies for the LGBT community. The program has been on campus for seven years and trains about 100 people a year.
"We explain what it is to be an ally and why LGBT people need allies," he said.
Grubb said he was surprised at how many residents showed up for SafeZone training in his hall.
"People were there that I never expected," he said.
After completing the SafeZone training, participants are offered a placard to hang up on their door to designate their room or office as a safe place where LGBT students can find an ally. Doug Copeland, the director of Yuma Hall, has one of the placards outside his office.
Copeland assists students in a new club called Students Promoting Respect for Individuality Through Example. He said students and allies formed SPRITE last spring. Each hall had it's own LGBT group, he said, so SPRITE is a social outlet for all students, and is not restricted to discussing only LGBT issues.
"Almost every week, we'll get positive and a negative comment," he said.
Some of the recent discussions at SPRITE meetings covered gay marriage, preachers on the Mall and letters to the editor in the Wildcat, said Grubb, who has attended meetings since last year. Meredith Larrabee, a chemistry junior, is a member of SPRITE. She said that people are both surprised and happy when they find out she is straight.
"I get great feedback about being an ally. It makes me feel good about myself," she said.