National Coming Out Week at UT
Monday marked the beginning of National Coming Out Week on college campuses and in communities around the country. Advocacy organizations at UT, such as the Queer Students Alliance and StandOut, are holding events all-week long on campus to support and raise awareness of the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) students.
Tuesday members of StandOut hosted a door signing and “kiss-in” in front of Gregory Gym. Students and passers-by could sign a board entitled “Closet Door” and kiss partners and friends of the same sex to show their support for GLBT rights.
Garrett Dee, director of the Queer Students Alliance, told the Daily Texan it is events such as Tuesday’s “kiss-in” that create a safe place for queer students at the university.
Today, there will be a vigil from 8-9 p.m. on the South Mall to remember those who have taken their own lives after after being harassed or feeling uncomfortable about their sexuality.
The Distinguished Speakers Committee is partnering with the Gender and Sexuality Center to present a lecture Thursday by writer and producer Dustin Lance Black. Black, a GLBT activist, won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film Milk. He also has received two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the HBO series Big Love.
For more information on the lecture and how to get tickets, click here.
On Friday, a rally for National Coming Out Week will be from noon-1 p.m. on the West Mall. That evening at 7, a screening will be held at the School of Social Work of the documentary Out of Annapolis, which follows GLBT alumni of the U.S. Naval Academy in their experiences at Annapolis and in the Navy. Also hosted at the school, the Queer Texas Conference 2010 will be Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Photo by Michael Baldon/Daily Texan
Share this article
-
David Conrad: Thanks for the corrections! I'll try to fix those on the original posting of th...
-
Mary Dell Harrington: So happy to learn of the good works that fellow Plan II graduate is doing for Af...
-
Marjorie Woods: I often purchase books in both paperback and as ebooks for reading under differe...
-
Bob: Gary, By what logic do you derive that, just because you disagree with my opi...
-
Mary Raffetto: This is awesome and I am so proud of my nephew, Ryan. This is another great his...
6 Comments
Is this my university????? I’m sorry, I strongly condemn your flaunting the gay right movement.
This sends the wrong answer to the young people
who want to be future longhorns. You are entitled
to your opinion, but please don’t force it on others.
Gay or straight, I don’t think celebrating public displays of affection is an appropriate activity on campus. How does creating a circus atmosphere help anyone’s or any group’s dignity and credibility?
Isn’t anything private anymore? Have we lost all sense of boundaries in this nation?
I would, however, support any sort of rally or vigil in remembrance of any young person who commits suicide out of hopelessness or harassment.. . doesn’t matter WHAT sexual orientation they are, a young life taken by one’s own hand is sad, sad, no matter what the reason.
Please! We can do without these e-mails. Thinking of withholding anymore contributions to the university,
Interesting comments on this story. I thought education opened minds. Anyway, thank you Texas Exes for sending this story. To the person who is thinking of withholding contributions — how sad. You can’t expect every aspect of UT to agree with your value system. Not every aspect agrees with mine, yet on the whole, I am proud to support UT.
Heck when I was at UT, if you wore blue jeans on Friday you were coming out. Remember that letter to the editor that ran just about every week?
For all of you bent out of shape, get over it. There was at least one gay guy in Jester when I was there. And there was an, uh, lady of the evening, that plyed her trade to get through UT living in Jester then too.
Yeah, I know, you’re shocked. Shocked, you’ll tell me. Get over it.
Interesting. Thank you for running this story. It is great to see our students addressing social justice issues in creative ways.