DU’s Queer Straight Alliance hosted their first National Coming Out Day party Thursday at 7 p.m. with an attendance of 30-40 people as part of their October celebration of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) History Month.
Guests were encouraged to come out as LGBT students or as allies of the LGBT community by signing a banner drawn in the design of a closet door to show their support.
Brendan Perry, the vice president of QSA, a senior majoring in political science and Spanish from Castlerock, thinks LGBT History Month is a great opportunity for QSA to make their presence known on campus through throwing a Coming Out party, creating a photo display with pictures and coming out stories and chalking all over campus.
“We don’t want to do anything big or bold because not everyone is comfortable with putting themselves out there like that,” said Perry. “The important thing is to get that message out there – we as a community have a presence and anybody is welcome.”
Loriann Hinojosa, a senior from Miami, Fla. majoring in Electrical Engineering and QSA’s Treasurer, agrees that QSA’s intent is to gain more visibility.
“The more visibility that we gain in society, the less stigma there will be around the LGBT community,” said Hinojosa. “When people are confident [and] comfortable, that’s when society progresses.”
Angel Diaz, a first-year Mechanical Engineering major from Dallas, Texas, feels as though he has an obligation to serve as an ally for the LGBT community, since many of his friends identify as gay.
“A lot of straight guys have this fear that gay guys are going to hit on them – I was like them at one point, then I realized that’s homophobic. The gay community deserves openness and respect,” said Diaz.
To Diaz, Coming Out Day gives him the motivation to come out as an ally and to show that he is supportive.
“We all should get educated on these issues and be open to accept others. By doing so, it helps us mature as adults and flourish as human beings,” said Diaz.
According to Hinojosa, Coming Out Day represents accepting who she is and offering support to others as well.
“We offer students a place to go for that sense of community because sometimes it feels like there’s nowhere to go,” said Perry. “We are a safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender students and of course, LGBT allies.”
DU is among the approximately 10 percent of universities in the United States that prevents discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender expression, two identities protected by DU’s non-discrimination policy since 1995 and 2007 respectively.
Thomas Walker, the Director of Educational Programs and LGBTIQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning and Ally) Services, believes that actually living up to the commitment of inclusive excellence is a major challenge the DU faces.
“Being among the first [approximately] 10 percent of schools to have such an inclusive and explicit policy definitely places us among the pioneers in higher education on this issue,” said Walker.
“Following up with actual consistently inclusive practice across campus is now our challenge.”
The LGBTIQA communities have a website (du.edu/cme/lgbtiqa) full of resources for students, with ongoing programs available to the campus community, including trainings, educational and support programs and resources beyond DU’s campus.
QSA meets every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and are available at denverqsa@gmail.com to answer any questions.
