Members from St. Thomas’ Queer-Straight Alliance handed out shirts Monday afternoon to celebrate National Coming Out Day, which officially took place Saturday.
National Coming Out Day is a time for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or asexual to come out to their families and communities. Sophomore Shannon Twiss, QSA’s freshman recruitment and outreach officer, said in addition to giving people an opportunity to come out, the day also recognizes support within the community.
“It’s just a chance for them to see that there are other folks like them in whatever community that they’re a part of,” Twiss said.
Theology professor Cara Anthony, QSA faculty adviser, said the day is a way recognize the different gender and sexual orientation identities within the community.
“It’s a day to feel positive about that and support everyone in their gender and orientation,” Anthony said. “It’s really a celebratory day.”
Sophomore Megan Colleran said this show of support from the community reassures some who may be nervous about coming out.
“It would give them confidence to know people are starting to be more supportive of this,” Colleran said.
Twiss said the community needs to realize that some people do not feel comfortable or safe coming out, so it is important that no one feels pressured. She said these difficulties that prevent some people from coming out make it even more important to recognize the experiences of those who do.
“That courage should be celebrated,” Twiss said.
Sophomore Grace Heyer, on the other hand, said National Coming Out Day is a bigger deal than it needs to be.
“(Sexuality) shouldn’t be someone’s complete identity,” Heyer said.
As a Catholic, senior Kaitlyn Jones said she does not support the day and does not believe it should be celebrated at St. Thomas.
“A day like that only encourages the behavior that I don’t support,” Jones said. “It’s possible to be loving and accepting to people without celebrating (National) Coming Out Day.”
Senior Zach Salminen said although the idea of National Coming Out Day may contrast the university’s Catholic beliefs, he thinks students will still support it.
“What the university itself stands for versus what I think a lot of people that attend here (stand for) would be two different things,” Salminen said.
Twiss said resistance to National Coming Out Day and the values of QSA make her efforts more important.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding of queer folks on this campus, so it’s really cool that we can do some education and raise some awareness,” Twiss said. “Because it’s a Catholic university, events like this are even more important for the student population.”
In addition to providing support, Monday’s event was a chance for QSA to highlight its new name. The club was previously called Allies. Twiss said that while everyone is welcome in the group, the name was changed to put greater emphasis on the LGBTQIA+ students.
“We’re here for a reason, and that reason is queer students on campus,” she said.
Rebecca Mariscal can be reached at mari2162@stthomas.edu.
It is always inspiring to see groups, including the newly rebranded QSA, creating opportunities for positive dialogue on campus. For those included in the article who are a bit skeptical about this event, I’d ask that we remember that as Catholics, we are called to support all people, including members of the LGBTQA+ community. All of us are created by God, and have an undeniable and unassailable human dignity. Part of that dignity is accepting that you are a beloved creation of God, and for many of us in the LGBTQA+ community, that task is incredibly difficult. Coming out is often an important, if not the most important, step towards a deeper relationship with God, and to spiritual wholeness, as we finally recognize and accept who we are created to be. As the Psalmist says, ‘I praise you God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ We should be grateful for events like this for reminding each of us, members of the LGBTQA+ community or not, that we are “wonderfully made”.
There is a difference between accepting those afflicted with same sex attraction and accepting any sexual actions taken by them. One is promoted and accepted by the Catholic Church and Catholic teaching and the other is not. In many instances such celebrations do not make this distinction which should not be the case on a Catholic campus. And by the way. Since it is generally recognized that those with same sex attraction make up approximately 1.8 percent of the population, why is there not a day of recognition for those with opposite sex attraction, which make up the vast majority of the rest of the population?
Hey, Dick. It’s not ’51 anymore.
I agree, Stan, and that’s where the problem is.