“I’m so gay, I can’t think straight.”
Phrases like this, scrawled in chalk all around campus, make many
students aware of National Coming Out Day.
The day commemorates Oct. 11, 1987 when half a million people
marched on Washington for gay and lesbian equality.
Today, events are taking place all over the country, and a
benefit CD featuring songs of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender musicians will be released from the Human Rights
Campaign.
A week of activities at UCLA culminates today, as six student
groups that form the Queer Alliance treat the UCLA campus to a
carnival- style festival.
“We want people to have fun and appreciate where
we’re coming from. It’s not just education we’re
about, it’s also about creating a fun environment on campus
through collaboration,” said Faith Cheltenham, a fifth-year
history student and co-chair of BlaQue, one of the student groups
hosting the festival.
In order to accomplish their goal, the Queer Alliance will have
a “Dunk the Homophobe” dunk tank, an “Escape the
Closet” velcro wall, kissing booths, a D.J., carnival games
and resources available to students.
The alliance invited many organizations on campus to come set up
a table during the festival, including fraternities and sororities,
which have been supportive of LGBT issues by hosting hate crime
programming, planners said.
“We definitely wanted to reach out because they have shown
incredible spirit,” Cheltenham said of the Greek System.
Groups in the surrounding communities are also invited to
partake in the festivities, and many businesses, such as Zone
d’ Amour in Westwood, have donated prizes.
Cooperation has been key in the planning and realization of this
event.
The Queer Alliance was officially started this year, and has
worked well together, members said. They started planning for this
week in August, said Jwo Lee, a publicist for GALA, , one of the
six student groups in the alliance.
“The separate groups are necessary, but now we have a way
to help each other and know what other groups are doing,” Lee
said.
Ronni Sanlo, the director of the LGBT Campus Resource Center,
said this event is “wonderful, and provides students with the
opportunity to see resources that are available to them.”
The LGBT Campus Resource Center will have an information table
at the festival and pass out free condoms.
Not everyone is supportive of National Coming Out Day, and will
make it know at the festival, organizers said. Every year,
protesters from around the country show up to oppose the
celebration.
“We respect free speech, as always, but the whole point of
National Coming Out Day is for people to come out of the closet,
and it’s kind of hard to do that when someone is screaming at
you that you’re going to hell,” Cheltenham said.
The alliance has found an interesting way to deal with this
problem.
Starting last year they set up a lemonade stand where people can
pledge money for every minute the protesters stay, and then donate
the proceeds to a charity.
“If they’re going to be there anyway we may as well
make some good out of it,” said the political and programming
chair for GALA, Roy Samaan.
This festival will be followed by a closing reception at Bradley
International Center from 8 to 12 p.m.
Sanlo said much has been accomplished on campus regarding LGBT
issues, but there is still a great deal to do.