Last week I touched on the fact that according to the Princeton Review all of us “gays” are finally being accepted on SMU’s campus. I was talking with a friend who asked me why I thought we had finally made it off of the Top 20 Homophobic Colleges, besides the fact that the Women’s Center here at SMU is making great progress on campus.

We haven’t had any loud and crazy pride days on campus. There hasn’t been a big hug-a-thon between the straight and LGBTQ+ community. In fact, my answer is quite simple: we’re just here.

Now, my intent in this article is not to discredit the work that our faculty and students do in the Women’s Center, as well as the faculty across campus. But I don’t think that’s the only reason why the attitude on campus has changed.

I came to SMU an openly gay student and can honestly say I’ve never been bullied or chastised for my sexuality. I also understand that my experience differs from that of some of my gay friends.

What interested me most as a first-year student was the amount of people that told me I was their first openly gay friend. They finally had someone to talk to about homosexuality, what it meant, how I live my life as a gay man. And I think most of them would tell you that I’m just like them.

I love football, being outdoors, own several guns, and go to church weekly. I have my good days, my sassy days, and my days when I just want to hide away in my room.

I am comfortable in a fraternity house. Most of my friends are straight.

To my friends and I, my sexuality just isn’t that big of a deal. Sure, the LGBTQ+ community has had its hardships, and we still have a long way to go before we’re treated, by law, as equal citizens.

But here, on SMU’s campus, we’re just integrating into the community like any other group of people.

When I meet someone, my first instinct isn’t to tell them that I’m gay. They will probably find that out later when I start talking about a cute boy, but that naturally comes up in conversation. My friends know that if we’re going on a double-date, my date will be another male.

I don’t try to separate myself from the entire SMU community, I just want to be a part of it. I want to be a leader, a scholar, a friend, and your average SMU guy. And I use the proverbial “I” fully knowing that many of my gay friends feel the same.

Many of us “gays” feel first and foremost like SMU students on this campus. We hardly use “gay” as a qualifier for ourselves at the beginning of a friendship. We just go on with our lives like every other student here.

That is what has made a difference. Not only have the faculty and staff at this university taken the initiative to help those who are struggling with their sexuality or being gay on campus, but many of us, the students, are just showing the world that we’re here, we’re queer, but just as queer, and therefore normal, as you.

Graves is a junior majoring in communications studies and religious studies. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].