NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Maria
Guerrera, a member of GALA, helped organize a rally in
Westwood Plaza on Tuesday to kick off National Coming Out
Month.
By Marjorie Hernandez
Daily Bruin Contributor
Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community
gathered in the Ackerman lounge Wednesday to celebrate their
pride.
The event, sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Association, served
as a kick-off for National Coming Out Month.
“Coming out is a big step for many LGBT people,”
said Chris Yah, director of GALA. “Being truthful not only to
yourself but to other people and celebrating honesty is
important.”
Founded by Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary, National
Coming Out Day was first celebrated on Oct. 11, 1988 to commemorate
the first anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian
and Gay Rights. The day also observed the elimination of gays and
lesbians by Nazi factions on Oct. 11, 1936.
Guest speaker Winnie Varghese, an openly gay reverend from the
Episcopal Anglican Chaplaincy, discussed the role of religion and
LGBT issues.
“The church needs to come out,” she said. “One
of the great things about being in the church is that we
can’t pretend that we are not racists, sexists and
homophobic.”
While admitting the church has been wrong in the past, Varghese
also noted its new attitudes.
“We are also about changing society and changing the
world,” she said. “One of the things that we are
finally coming around with at the church is that sexuality is a
blessing.”
Colorful balloons and banners decorated makeshift tables at
Wednesday’s event, where 18 organizations provided
information on safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases and free
AIDS testing.
Many people at the event, which was originally scheduled to take
place in Westwood Plaza but got rained out, said they welcome all
students to learn more about LGBT issues.
“The LGBT Center serves all students, regardless of sexual
orientation,” said Ronni Sanlo, director of the LGBT Campus
Resource Center.
“Even heterosexual students are welcome to the center to
learn who we are and what our issues are, especially if students
are dealing with gay family members,” she continued.
Sanlo, who said she hid her lesbian identity for 20 years,
applauded the openness of participating students.
“We have so few times in our lives when we can celebrate
who we are,” Sanlo said. “It’s also important for
the people who are in the closet to know that there are other
people out there who are living their lives openly.”
Participants at Wednesday’s gathering sought to put the
LGBT community in a positive light.
“By raising awareness, we hope to break down homophobia
and a lot of oppression that people normally generate out of
hate,” said GALA secretary Brenton Jaimes.
But participants at the event said homophobic sentiments still
exist on campus.
One incident involved a student being caught ripping a poster
from the GALA Center front door late Tuesday night. No charges were
filed against the student, who was taken into custody and later
released by university police.
“Although we had the option, we didn’t file criminal
charges because we didn’t want to escalate the problem any
further,” said GALA member Ron Asher.
Tuesday’s vandalism was not an isolated case. According to
Jaimes, GALA office bulletin boards were also defaced last
year.
“There is definitely an issue of homophobia and racism on
this campus that needs to be dealt with,” Jaimes said.
LGBT will celebrate its fifth anniversary on Oct. 30 with guest
speaker Judy Shepherd, mother of the late Matthew Shepherd.
Matthew was the 21-year-old openly gay University of Wyoming
student who was beaten and left to die in 1998.
Sanlo hopes events like Coming Out Day will overshadow hate
crime atrocities and encourage students to be open about their
sexual orientation.
“The joys have truly outweighed the risks of being
out,” Sanlo said. “I’m very grateful for who I am
and what I am able to do.”