Attending college can be a positive growing experience for everyone, not least of all for people of the LGTB community. LGBT individuals who came from not very supportive backgrounds might enjoy greater dating opportunities and mental health and community resources than back home, but also face other challenges.  They might need to justify attending college to their families, families who might blame college for encouraging their child’s non-heterosexual identity. Mary L. Gray, associate professor in the Department of Communication and Culture in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington writes about these issues in her new book Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America.

Read the entire article here: Starting College And Coming Out: Challenges And Opportunities

Related: New HRC Report Highlights Challenges Faced by Latino LGBT Youth