SUNY Fredonia has been unofficially dubbed as one of the "gayest" schools, not only in the SUNY system, but in New York in general.

Now, this isn't anything derogatory; I even consider it a compliment.

I'm proud to be a student at the "gayest" school, because that means our school is the most socially accepting/diverse. We have an amazing amount of LGBT+ visibility and representation on campus, everywhere from students to staff and teaching faculty, Even our diversity within the community is astounding.

Where else will you find so many LGBT+ people of color, and people from everywhere on the gender/sexuality spectrums? Heck with my main group of friends here at Fredonia, only one out of six of our friends are heterosexual. Our Pride Alliance (the LGBT+ group on campus) probably has over 100 members, which is huge especially considering that some of the members are allies as well.

The campus is very accepting as a whole which is great. I see so many same sex couples or couples where at least one of the partners doesn't fit typical binary gender roles, and no one bats an eye. Obviously some groups and departments have more LGBT acceptance than others, the arts departments being the most open and accepting, but you will never be made to feel less than by someone else, no matter where you are on campus.

LGBT History Month began on October 1st and I'm so grateful that I chose Fredonia to be my home for the next four years.

The school, working with Pride Alliance, is hosting many events this month to celebrate, including a talk with two LGBT authors and a Drag Show open to any students who felt like signing up. Fredonia is even bringing in poet Elizabeth Bradford (who's well known in the community) who a Lambda Literary Prize (an award for books dealing with queer issues) for a convocation sponsored by the Biology and English departments, completely separate from Pride Alliance. Next semester, the Honors Program is even offering an LGBT History course for General Education credit, being taught by one of the faculty advisors for Pride Alliance.

As the month goes on, I can't wait to see what other events we have planned to celebrate the amazing history that the community shares.