• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Life / LGBTQ+ / 7 Tips for LGBTA Dating in College

7 Tips for LGBTA Dating in College

November 26, 2017 //  by Amanda Dash

Shares4FacebookTweet

How many times do you really want to hear, “Sorry, I’m straight,” before you decide to become a spinster at age 22? Let’s face it: it’s difficult to put yourself out there when it comes to dating.  And when you align as LGBTA, you suddenly always worry whether the person you like finds you attractive or just has a penchant for sitting close and maintaining good eye contact. Suddenly, sitting at home and staying on Tumblr looks like a good idea, doesn’t it? Don’t resign to spinsterhood or a permanent relationship with your laptop.

Navigate LGBTA dating in college with these 7 tips.

1. Make a sassy gay friend

lgbt dating
giphy.com

People hang out with like-minded people. Jocks hang out with jocks, nerds with nerds and guess what? Many LGBTA people hang out within that community. How many times have your straight friends met significant others through mutual friends? Turns out that’s not just a straight thing. Your gay roommate just may introduce you to a cute girl with whom you have a torrid affair (true story).

2. Date by GPS

how to meet gay guys in college
giphy.com

Grindr: the gay man’s Tinder. Actually, the ‘social networking’ site advertises toward those who are gay, bisexual or bi-curious. Sure, random hookups and casual dates dominate Grindr, but who says more serious things haven’t come from one-night stands? Apps for lesbians, such as Dattch or FindHrr, are similarly effective. I dream about an app that tells me the girl nearby in the cafeteria finds me attractive, but for now Grindr and other GPS dating apps will make do.

3. Utilize your trusty friend, the Internet

gaydar
giphy.com

Online dating is more reliable than Grindr when it comes to beginning a serious relationship. OkCupid results in a broad find of people close by, but, like most popular dating sites, it forces you to choose a gender for your profile. Datebound allows non-gender binary (you have more options than simply male/female) and helps you find people without leaving your couch, a must for lazy people like me.

4. Study your student body

lgbt flag
giphy.com

What? I can get college credit trying to find a date? Well… not exactly. Many colleges, such as University of Maryland, Yale and Kent State, offer majors or minors in LGBT or queer studies. Assuming the average student doesn’t major in this field, most universities offer single-semester classes. These classes typically comprise of members of the LGBTA community, providing a non-threatening environment to get to know similar people (leading to new friendships at the very least).

5. Go outside for once, join a club

lgbt in college
giphy.com

Most campuses have at least one LGBTA group on campus, oftentimes pertaining to particular subsets of the LGBTA community. These clubs, relating to LGBTA outreach, different races in the LGBTA community and support groups, often work in conjunction with the LGBTA center on campus. Yes, your campus probably has one tucked away somewhere, and this is where you find queer folk in between classes. We eat there, socialize there and even play board games there. Even if nothing results from your endeavor, at least you can say you tried getting involved in something other than Netflix.

6. Have a drink, or 5, at the bar

lesbian bar
giphy.com

Bars, most importantly, force you to socialize. Going to a gay bar at least lowers the chance of you accidentally hitting on that girl you keep seeing in Starbucks who you hoped was a lesbian. Most college towns only have one gay bar for miles, attracting people from the community who you may not have met otherwise. Any form of interaction with people of the LGBTA community, even in an overcrowded and noisy bar, increases your chance of a date…or at least a good time for the night.

7. Put yourself out there, out of the closet

i'm gay
giphy.com

No, not every lesbian owns 23 plaid shirts and has short hair. And no, you don’t have to be the flamboyant leader of the pride parade. But you can show that you are out and proud in your own way. Like most of these tips suggest, the best way to find a date is to be active in the LGBTA community. I met my boyfriend through our college’s LGBTA center, and my “Bi–it’s not a myth” pin has raised plenty of interesting conversations. Wear a No H8 shirt, volunteer, put rainbows on your backpack; say that you’re here, you’re queer and you just want to go on a date.

BONUS: Wear a tank top to show your pride

gaydar

LGBT Outfitters Gaydar Tank Top: $24.99 

College Magazine does not promote underage drinking. Please drink responsibly.

*Updated November 26, 2017 to include new media and images and bonus LGBT dating tip.

Shares4FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Dating LGBTQ+

About Amanda Dash

You May Also Like

LGBTQ+ Activists

Fight for Our Rights: 10 LGBTQ+ Activists to Be Proud to Know

Queer Authors

PRIDE, No Prejudice: 10 Queer Authors to Add to Your TBR

Breaking the Binary: My Journey into Identifying as Non-Binary

Top 10 LGBTQ+ Resources at Penn State University

Being a Queer Student Has Been Hard, But Not for the Reason You Think

commons.wikimedia.org

Top 10 LGBTQ+ Friendly Colleges for 2020

Finding Safe Spaces: Top LGBTQ+ Resources at UF

pixabay.com

Rediscovering the Roots of Pride

Pride

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate Pride During a Pandemic

coming out pride month

Not That You Asked, But Here’s 7 Celebrities I’d Gladly Come Out To

killing eve lgbtq+

Top 25 Most Influential LGBTQ+ Characters to Celebrate This June

Pride Makeup

15 Pride Makeup Looks to Flex This June

lgbtq+ movies on netlfix

20 Best LGBTQ+ Movies on Netflix to Binge During Pride Month

12 Pride Looks to Have Your Friends Screaming “WERK”

Coming out

Rediscovering Your Identity: Coming Out is Not a One-Time Event

group photo of my sorority after the last day of recruitment my freshman year.

How My Sorority Taught Me to be Proud

My Freshman College Orientation Changed My Life

LGBTQ+

Don’t Give Up on Your Lesbian Dreams

pride

Fluid Sexuality: An Intimate Look at the Kinsey Scale

lgbtq resources on campus

Top 10 LGBTQ Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Beauty in a Painful History

sex positivity

There’s No Right Way to Be Bisexual

coming out in college girls with rainbow flags

Let’s Get One Thing Straight… I’m Not.

LGBT POC

Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, Oh My: What Queer Dating is Like in the Digital Age

Previous Post: «Jess New Girl breakup Finding My Major From the Ashes of a Breakup
Next Post: 10 Gifts to (Bow)Wow Your Dog This Christmas dog gifts»

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

94

10 St. John’s University Finals Activities to Help You De-Stress

mental health
78

Pandemic and Academic Blues: Being Aware of Your Mental Health

60

24 Ways My 2020 Survival Guide Turned into 2021 Lifestyle Habits

55

The Ultimate Auburn University Bucket List: 21 Things to Do Before Graduating

best classes
24

10 Best Classes You Need to Take at Drake University

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.