gaywrites:

Starting in the fall, a new program at Rutgers University will allow students to live in dorm rooms with opposite-sex roommates. The change will hopefully make Rutgers appear more gay-friendly to students. 

Rutgers made national news a few months ago when freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after his roommate streamed video of Clementi having a sexual encounter with a man. There’s no way to tell whether the two events are related, but Rutgers still needs to prove to the world that it’s a safe environment for LGBTQ students. 

Any student can participate in the housing program - straight students can live with opposite sex friends, or significant others can room together. The program isn’t open to freshmen, but incoming students will have the option to request a roommate tolerant of LGBTQ people. 

Parents can’t overrule a student’s decision to live with someone of the opposite sex, and the university will not ask any student about their sexual orientation. NBC New York reports:

The pilot program will involve more than 100 undergraduate students, including gay, lesbian and transgender students and be limited at first to housing in Demarest Hall on College Avenue, New Gibbons on the Douglass Campus and Rockoff Hall in downtown New Brunswick.

Many self-described LGBT individuals, including Rutgers senior Aaron Lee, eagerly await the opportunity to participate.

“I’m really glad they did it, although I wish it wouldn’t have taken as long,” Lee told NJ.com. “We live in a world where in order to be considered a human being you have to be male or female, and not everyone fits into that kind of binary. It’s important to have spaces where people don’t necessarily have to worry.”

I’m very impressed with this mature and inclusive response to what’s been a rocky year for Rutgers. Gender neutral housing is popping up all over the country as a sign of more tolerant attitudes towards LGBTQ students, and Rutgers is sending an extremely positive and supportive message by implementing this program confidently. 

Bravo, friends. 

(via artmotherfuckers)