Spring Break
Campus groups set up 'coming out' closet
Students have mixed reactions to event intended to promote awareness, solidarity
Mary Kate Malone
Issue date: 10/12/05 Section: News
The clouds, cold and crowds didn't keep freshman Cece Holley from coming out of the closet Tuesday in front of South Dining Hall.
Not as a homosexual or bisexual, but as a multi-racial female at Notre Dame.
"Yay, this makes me happy," Holley said as she walked out of a giant orange closet through a rainbow curtain.
Holley was one of the first participants in this year's "Come out of your closet" event, meant to promote acceptance of alternative lifestyles on campus.
"A lot of people don't feel comfortable being multiracial or biracial, but I am and I'm proud," Holley said. "People don't understand what it's like to hide a part of yourself. But on a Catholic campus we need to understand we're together and we can't single anyone out simply because they're gay."
Holley's attitude was exactly what organizers of Notre Dame's second annual coming out celebration were hoping for. Students representing various gay and lesbian groups on campus created the event as a means to increase dialogue about homosexuality on campus. The event was sponsored by the Graduate Student Union and the Sociology Department.
"You always have something that not a lot of people know about you that you can say to the world," event organizer Alex Renfro said. "We're not pressuring anyone in the closet sexually to come out in front of all these people if they don't want to. But it serves a great purpose to show what its like for a gay person to come out in an atmosphere like Notre Dame. It's a testament of support to the gay community."
Organizers said very few students actually used the closet to declare their sexuality. Instead, gay and straight students alike used it as a means to express a unique or humorous aspect of themselves.
Juniors Afiya Wilkins and John Lowe came out of the closet together, announcing that they were "huge [singer] Ashlee Simpson fans."
Other 'coming out' topics included "I'm a person who loses their I.D. all the time," "I'm an Alliance ND groupie" and "I'm coming out as totally straight."
Not as a homosexual or bisexual, but as a multi-racial female at Notre Dame.
"Yay, this makes me happy," Holley said as she walked out of a giant orange closet through a rainbow curtain.
Holley was one of the first participants in this year's "Come out of your closet" event, meant to promote acceptance of alternative lifestyles on campus.
"A lot of people don't feel comfortable being multiracial or biracial, but I am and I'm proud," Holley said. "People don't understand what it's like to hide a part of yourself. But on a Catholic campus we need to understand we're together and we can't single anyone out simply because they're gay."
Holley's attitude was exactly what organizers of Notre Dame's second annual coming out celebration were hoping for. Students representing various gay and lesbian groups on campus created the event as a means to increase dialogue about homosexuality on campus. The event was sponsored by the Graduate Student Union and the Sociology Department.
"You always have something that not a lot of people know about you that you can say to the world," event organizer Alex Renfro said. "We're not pressuring anyone in the closet sexually to come out in front of all these people if they don't want to. But it serves a great purpose to show what its like for a gay person to come out in an atmosphere like Notre Dame. It's a testament of support to the gay community."
Organizers said very few students actually used the closet to declare their sexuality. Instead, gay and straight students alike used it as a means to express a unique or humorous aspect of themselves.
Juniors Afiya Wilkins and John Lowe came out of the closet together, announcing that they were "huge [singer] Ashlee Simpson fans."
Other 'coming out' topics included "I'm a person who loses their I.D. all the time," "I'm an Alliance ND groupie" and "I'm coming out as totally straight."