Tommy T. Roddy '98 of Columbia, South Carolina, who is half Black and half Korean, says his ethnicity may make his sexual orientation less acceptable.

"At first I was disdained by the Asian community for being half Black, but then I was rejected for being bisexual," he says.

Gavin Steckler '98, from Juniper, Florida, came out only this summer at home. "When I got here I was already settled in my mind as to how I would go about being gay," he says. "The coolest part about it was the most simple answer: I would be myself."

When he arrived at Harvard, he decided to tell his proctor group about his sexual orientation during the mandatory tolerance discussions with faculty.

"I was very, very nervous, because I had only told individuals up till then and I was not sure whether or not it was time to tell a group of 30 people at once," he says. "But what decided it for me was the fact that by probability there were other people in the room feeling the same pain that I had been through as a closeted homosexual. I felt my choice to come out to the whole group would help."

Steckler waited until near the end of the discussion before coming out.

"I brought it up as a point that had been ignored throughout the meeting--the discrimination against or acceptance of homosexuality on campus. And I announced I was gay. When I told the group, the reaction was surprise, but it was controlled and in a very positive way. It was a learning experience, because other people came up to me after the meeting and said, 'I've never met an openly gay person and I always thought certain stereo-types applied and you don't fit into them.'"

While Steckler came out to his roommates, others chose not to say anything.

"I never told my roommates. I just waited for them to know. I just carried on with my life. It's a part of my life. It's not my whole life," says Brian J. Saccente '98 of Roslyn, N.Y.

Campbell, who also did not directly tell his roommates, says, "It is rather unnatural to say point blank, 'I'm gay.' I didn't hide anything, but I didn't say anything."

For some, not being direct with their roommates caused problems.

"I didn't come out to my roommates beforehand and I regret it. The beginning of the year would have been a lot smoother than I had," says Roddy, who has been out since high school.

The large group of out first-years may result from a sort of domino effect. "There are so many freshmen who came one foot in one foot out of the closet and needed to see other out freshmen," Roddy says. "With this freshman class there were enough of a core group of people who are out to encourage other people to come out."

National Trend

The number of out first-years may also be part of a larger, national trend mirrored at other colleges: more students are coming to terms with their sexuality in high school or soon after.