Despite initial apprehensions that the two-hour "Kiss-In Lunch on the Quad" might draw negative attention from passersby, Wednesday's Coming Out Week event proceeded without a hitch.
Although the Kiss-In featured a limited amount of public affection-only one couple kissed and another held hands-Coming Out Week Chair Jessica Rosario termed the event a success.
"All in all, we had about 30 people who came and sat and had lunch in solidarity," she said. "This was a success because no one caused any problems for us, but more so because that many people felt comfortable enough to come out."
Students, faculty and staff gathered on the Main Quad in front of the Chapel for a picnic-style lunch, organized to create an atmosphere in which couples-whether gay or straight-could feel comfortable displaying their affections for one another, Rosario said.
Although the Kiss-In has been a part of Coming Out Week in previous years, the event was omitted from last year's program. This year the Alliance of Queer Undergraduates at Duke reinstated the event as part of its shifted focus from social to political issues.
"We're not trying to force ourselves onto other people, but we want to be able to feel comfortable, and have others be comfortable, with us showing affection in a place that is safe," Rosario said.
Although one student had voiced opposition earlier in the week about the propriety of holding the Kiss-In in front of the Chapel, the group's lunch went uninterrupted, Rosario said. She added, however, that the lack of protest was not tantamount to a campus-wide acceptance of gay couples.
"Just because people don't say anything doesn't mean they are comfortable with it," Rosario said. "People still look. People still don't agree with it. Unfortunately that's how it is." She cited a September 2002 column by senior Bill English in The Chronicle as evidence of some students' discomfort with public affection among gay men and women.
One participant, sophomore Brian West, said that although he feels more comfortable expressing affection at the University than in the city of Durham, he is still apprehensive about doing so on campus-even in small measure.
"Duke is very far behind," West said. "Showing ourselves here-showing that we are comfortable being ourselves-is a good step forward, whether or not it has any immediate effects."
Despite participants' optimism about the ramifications of the Kiss-In on campus, some students said the event could work to the detriment of the gay community.
"If people weren't already bothered by gay couples showing their affection in public, then a more formal display on the Chapel quad probably wouldn't bother them," said Amanda Springs, a Divinity School student. "On the other hand, I would think that if someone was uncomfortable with it, the Kiss-In would only make them angry to feel that it was flaunted in their face."
Sophomore Lindsay Chaney agreed, noting that she had overheard comments in class that people felt the Kiss-In was inappropriate.
"I don't necessarily think it's that people are homophobic. It's the same thing with public displays of affection between heterosexual couples," Chaney said. "In general, most people don't feel comfortable seeing people making out in public."
Although Rosario agreed that public affection was not readily accepted in general, she stressed that such affections were less acceptable among gay couples.
"Everything has a time and a place, but straight people continue to hold hands and kiss in public, and that's not an option to us right now," Rosario said. "It's not so much about invading others' space as it is about creating a space for ourselves."
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