Still, most students agree that the experience of coming out during college is universal and not one specific to Harvard. Though students have found their peers to be accepting and supportive, many have found the resources for students struggling with their identity to be lackluster.

Allison, a current junior, says she sought out advice from CONTACT Peer Counseling, but found their emphasis on feelings rather than solutions unsatisfying.

Similarly, Matt visited Mental Health Services in hopes of finding a clinician who could help him resolve his identity issues. Instead, he says he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and his feelings of depression persisted.

While he adds that there are a few clinicians who specialize in LGBTQ issues, they were often high in demand and appointments were difficult to schedule.

Moreover, some students say that the queer community isn’t always a refuge for those coming out at college.

One of the reasons Matt says he chose to come out was because he realized there was a lack of resources at Harvard for the Latino, LGBTQ community. For Matt, the College was a very “white gay” place.

Realizing this dearth in student life, Matt says he became a more vocal and public figure for LGBTQ issues within the Latino community.

Likewise, both Allison and David did not find solace within the queer organizations. As athletes at Harvard, the two agree that LGBTQ student groups did not necessarily cater to that section of the student body.

Though both are now openly out, they also say that they do not want their sexuality to be a defining characteristic for them or determine the type of groups they participate in on campus.

“I want to be the guy who is gay, not the gay guy,” David says.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

From a small town in the South, Allison says it is unlikely she will ever return to live in her hometown or tell her friends at home that she is gay.

However, she has confided in her parents. While both her mom and dad are liberal, “being accepting of homosexuality in general versus having it happen to your own child is very different,” Allison says.

She says her mother especially had a difficult time processing the news, but has come around since Allison first came out and the two can now discuss Allison’s relationships at school.

“Me being gay and me being a successful Harvard graduate was not compatible in their eyes,” Allison says. “But I think I’ve done a lot to convince them otherwise.”