"There are professors who are out...but tutors tend to know what's out there. We share what we know at meetings and help get information to the students," says Megan E. Jewett, who is also a Currier House tutor and is Imperial's partner.

"Since we are an openly gay couple, I think students definitely feel comfortable coming to us [for advice]," Imperial says.

"Open and out gay tutors may be the first out people students meet," Jewett adds. "It can be really reassuring to both gay and straight students, especially straight students who might have been uncomfortable before."

Jewett says that tutors try to foster a variety of activities for students to make them more familiar with the issues facing gays.

"We plan dances, film series and discussion groups for gay students," she says.

Jewett adds that many tutors also maintain resources for gay students in house libraries.

But Imperial says that the effectiveness of the designated tutor program rests on the dedication of individual tutors.

"It depends on how available tutors make themselves," she says.

BGLSA

In place of the treatment offered by UHS or the informal support available in the houses, Oppenheimer suggests that the BGLSA offers gay students the kind of support they really need--a community in which they feel safe.

"Because our community is not one that brings up children, for 95 percent of the people it's where they come out," says Oppenheimer. "The Harvard community is just coming into itself here and it's difficult without an older community to provide resources and make it less scary."

BGLSA co-chair Nadia P. Croes '96 says her organization provides both social and political support for students by increasing the visibility of the gay community.

"[The BGLSA's] purpose is to provide, not just a safe, but also a social environment and political outlet for students," Croes says.

One of the major initiatives pursued by the BGLSA this fall was their petition to the College administration for a new gay student center.

After a lengthy debate among administrators who initially claimed that they did not have space for such a center, a basement room in Holworthy Hall was designated for the purpose of serving Harvard's gay community.