LGBTQ Groups Hope To Promote Awareness

Today kicks off National Coming Out Week, and UNC is doing its share to get involved.

To celebrate the week, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer groups on campus have scheduled activities that will appeal to people who are gay and straight alike, hosting workshops, lectures and even an ice cream social.

"It's fun, and it gets people involved, and it's unifying," said Alice Newton, founder of UNC's GLBT-Straight Alliance.

Rebecca Walker, daughter of author Alice Walker, is slated to speak today about her memoir "Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self." Walker also will speak from her perspective as a bisexual black woman.

The event also is part of Race Relations Week, hosted by the Campus Y.

Although the activities are meant to be fun, there's a more specific reason for the celebration.

"There's the very political statement of coming out is very important and visibility is very important," Newton said. "It will help to show everyone that coming out can be supported by a group of people."

The week will culminate Friday, National Coming Out Day. The festivities are intended to make people realize they can come out and be welcomed by a large group of people who understand their situation, Newton said.

With recent successes like the N.C. Dyke March and N.C. Pride Weekend, LGBTQ groups have high hopes that National Coming Out Week will get the recognition their community thinks it deserves.

But in the past few years UNC hasn't had well-organized events involving LGBTQ groups, and many members of the community think the campus has suffered as a result.

"Everyone says that Chapel Hill is an incredibly liberal place," said sophomore Trevor Hoppe. "It's interesting because you don't feel that you can't come out on campus ... but it's certainly not welcome."

When the Human Rights Campaign started National Coming Out Day in 1988, it did so with the belief that it would help people become more open-minded, said Glenn Grossman, co-chairman of the Carolina Alternative Meetings of Professional and Graduate Students and a member of the LGBTQ Advisory Board.

"People who know gay people who are out are much more likely to be gay-friendly," he said.

Fred Hashagen, also a member of the LGBTQ Advisory Board, said he believes National Coming Out Day is a good opportunity for people to reveal their sexual preferences.

"On this campus a lot of times people look for an appropriate spot to tell people they're gay," Hashagen said. "I know I had trouble with that. You don't want to sound like you're shocking people for the sake of being provocative."

But the main goal of coming out week is still to increase awareness, Grossman said. "Homosexuality is very invisible," he said.

"The only way to counter this is to stand out proud."

 

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.