NEWARK, N.J. — Newark Mayor Cory Booker, an outspoken advocate for gay rights, wrote a column in college about overcoming the ‘‘disgust and latent hostility’’ he once felt toward gay ­people.

In a piece titled ‘‘Pointing the finger at gays,’’ Booker, then a student at Stanford University, wrote in 1992 that he had ‘‘hated gays’’ until a meeting with a gay peer counselor.