Early in his childhood, senior John Rodriguez* realized that he was not attracted to girls like a typical boy would be. Instead, he was attracted to boys. There was nothing lavish about it, and he did not understand it. But he realized that there was something odd about his sexual orientation.

“It was just an attraction,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn’t really like, ‘Oh, he’s cute.’ It was just a genuine attraction to guys instead of females.”

Rodriguez did not act on it immediately. Instead, he attempted to date a girl.

“I dated a girl for a year and a half,” Rodriguez said. “And what was weird was every time I kissed [her], it was like the next day – I got sick.”

Rodriguez said everyone laughs when he tells them that, but that it was true. He did not find kissing a girl pleasant. Rodriguez was at conflict with himself for a while, but after time, he gave up contemplating himself and started to simply accept it. The football team was the first to find out.

“I told one person, and he told everyone else. [I had walked out of the locker room], and when I came back, they were all looking at me. They were like, ‘Is it true?’ And they were like, ‘Cool, whatever,’” Rodriguez said. “That was it.”

In addition to other students knowing, he is aware that his family has some idea. Although he has not told his mom directly, Rodriguez believes she is knowledgeable of the situation and is comfortable with her son’s sexual orientation. Rodriguez thinks this is because he does not fit into any stereotypes.

“I’m not one of those super feminine guys who change their voice, who change their appearance to a more feminine way,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not that type of guy. I’m a regular guy – I like to cliff dive, rock climb, I go mudding, hiking – I do all this ‘manly’ stuff. I feel the opposite of the stereotype.”

Rodriguez said that the way he is has alot to do with the way he was raised.

“There’s no real thing about it, because I think what most people don’t like is, if you’re a guy, you’re raised to be a man. You’re raised to be tough, you’re raised to be fearless,” Rodriguez said. “You are not raised to be passive or flamboyant and all that. You can have a feminine side – but there’s a time and a place for everything.”

Although Rodriguez disapproves of gay guys changing their personality when they come out, he does not critize them. And, he has an idea of why they make this change.

“I think what a lot of guys do is they want to hang out around guys,” Rodriguez said. “They hang out around guys, and [guys] kind of shun them. And [then] they go hang around females, ‘cause females are generally more accepting. And they pick up the feminine traits.”

Rodriguez said that he has noticed many things on campus like gay guys getting bullied by their peers. He said there will always be people who disapprove, which is why he would like to remain anonymous. Rodriguez shared that he has not considered changing the way he acts or talks, not simply because it would draw attention to himself, but because he does not consider himself to be that type of person. Rodriguez has met guys that are not open about their sexual orientation, out of fear they will get picked on. And he tries to explain why that should not be the issue.

“They’ve come up and they’ve asked me ‘Well, how you do this?’ – yet people don’t bother them like this.” Rodriguez said. “I’m like ‘Dude, it’s 2015.’ I mean the people you see getting made fun of and stuff like that, they draw a lot of attention to themselves – they’ll be loud, flamboyant and all this.”

Disapproval of homosexuality expands past stereotypes. There are many different religious viewspoints about it. It is a topic that has been discussed and disapproved through analysis of the Bible.

“I’ve done a lot of research on that topic and I’ve been in numerous churches and I’ve asked numerous different priests,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve asked Catholic priests, I’ve asked Islamic Sheiks, I’ve asked a southern Baptist pastor – I’ve asked all of them. And the conclusion [I’ve come to] is, your relationship with God is with you.”

Rodriguez said that despite all the stereotypes and opinions, he does not mind conversation about himself.

“Really, if somebody asks me, I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I’m gay,’” Rodriguez said. “But if you don’t ask me, I’m just going to keep to myself.”

*Name has been changed to protect student