The West Campus Plaza was a colorful sight Friday. Rainbow-hued balloons swayed gently in the breeze amid a throng of people wearing red, green, blue, purple and orange “Love=Love” shirts.
It was Coming Out Day at Duke, an annual University event in observation of National Coming Out Day Oct. 11. The purpose was to raise awareness of and support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“The mission of this event is to give out information to all students on the Duke campus about coming out, the importance of coming out, the experience of students coming out, and what it means to live openly,” said Janie Long, director of the Center for LGBT Life.
Coming Out Day was a way to increase awareness of the LGBT community, said sophomore Manny Hidalgo, communications chair for Blue Devils United.
The multi-colored “Love=Love” T-shirts that were given out are an integral part of the push for greater visibility, Hidalgo said. He noted that the shirts frame the issue in a new context and send the message in a new way that has been a big hit for the past couple years.
Sophomore Kartik Pawar heard about Coming Out Day from friends and dropped by the Plaza to pick up a shirt.
“Even though the shirts are free, they really do promote support in the University,” Pawar said. “Just wearing it around, people get used to seeing it and the mentality shifts so that people become more accepting.”
More promising than the number of students and staff picking up shirts was that many people took their interest a step further, asking for more resources and talking to members of the LGBT community, said Chris Purcell, program coordinator for the Center for LGBT Life.
“That’s a good sign—when people are not just getting shirts but are stopping to learn more,” he said.
This event took place two weeks after the East Campus bridge incident, in which homophobic slurs were written across a rainbow that was painted for the Sept. 26 North Carolina Pride Festival and Parade. The slurs drew campus-wide attention to the daily challenges the LGBT community faces, Purcell said.
“For the LGBT people on campus, they hear and see much worse things in the residence halls than what was written on the bridge,” he said. “But that doesn’t get much attention at all.”
Hidalgo said the LGBT community is turning the bridge incident into a catalyst for dialogue about these issues.
“If you’ve noticed around campus, there have been a lot of rainbow flags hanging out of windows,” Hidalgo said. “We’re trying to use the flags as a conversation starter… get people thinking about these issues, and hopefully make some constructive progress.”
Ultimately, the most important aspect of Coming Out Day is for the Duke community to show its support, whether through increased dialogue about the issue or just wearing the “Love=Love” shirts, Long said.
“When I’m walking around campus and I see someone wearing the shirt, it puts a smile on my face,” Hidalgo said. “It’s encouraging.”
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