The Gay Place

Claaaaaaaass, claaaaaaaass, claaaaaaaaaassss! Wake up! Yup. It's time for school, little ones, and you know what that means: fresh meat! I mean, fresh men. I mean, freshmen. Yes, it's the influx of new tots seeking their peeps. Lost in the blinding haze of emerging from one of life's first closets, college kids coming out for the first time are lucky if they land in a spot as warm and welcoming and accepting as Central Texas. Imagine if you were in their shoes but instead stuck in some remote Bible Belt outpost. Granted, just a few miles in any direction out of our progressive Austin comfort zone, and you might as well be walking into Westboro Baptist Church.

Thank goodness that there are so many local groups and services to help kids who land here without any sort of support network. Thank goodness for campus gay-straight alliances. And for younger kids, thank goodness for Out Youth. In our listings this week, and for the next few, we'll be running the contact info for some of these great groups. Check them out, frosh, and see you in class. See Now & Later, p.66.