Gay activist
named Rhodes scholar

A gay Harvard University student was chosen to be one of 32 to win a Rhodes scholarship this year. Ryan Thoreson of Fargo, N.D., majors in government and women, gender, and sexuality studies. He is cochairman of the university's Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance, a playwright, and a nationally ranked debater, according to the Associated Press.

Sue Thoreson said her son's social conscience differentiated him from the other 15 candidates who made the cut from the regional interview round.

"They're looking for kids who look like they'll give back to society once they finish their education," she told the AP. "Ryan will actually do it."

Thoreson said he looks to attend law school after his upcoming studies at Oxford. He wants to work with international human rights and humanitarian law, specializing in gay and lesbian civil rights.

According to the AP, Thoreson interned with the International Lesbian and Gay Association in Brussels last summer before interviewing people for his thesis in South Africa about AIDS. (The Advocate)