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Rainbow chalk art of fishes, flowers and hearts decorated the sidewalk on the Shaw Quadrangle Wednesday alongside chalk messages reading “I LOVE WOMEN!,” “I LOVE EVERYONE!” and “I LOVE MEN!”

“(National Coming Out Day is) a space for people to be who they are even if they just choose to do it for one day,” said junior Abby Traska. “It’s a day of celebration and being open as yourself.”

National Coming Out Day was established by the Human Rights Campaign in 1989 on Oct. 11 to commemorate the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Pride Union and the LGBTQ Resource Center collaborated this year to organize the “Chalk the Walk” on the quad.

Passersby stopped at a nearby table to make a tie-dye shirt and grab a colorful pin adorned with pronouns and additional rainbow art. Pride Union President Brian Cohen manned the table. Cohen came out as gay when he was 11. He said he feels fortunate that he did so in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which he called an accepting community.

Cohen said being queer at SU has been a largely positive experience. He noted the time and effort SU puts into the LGBTQ Resource Center as well as affinity groups organized by the school.

However, he described the social life at SU as very binary, especially in regard to “going out” culture and Greek life.

“As long as you find good pockets of people, your people, it’s been a good experience,” Cohen said. “I’ve made some good friends, thankfully, (in Pride Union).”

Pride Union, SU’s main LGBTQ social club, puts on events such as drag shows, paint nights and more to foster community at SU.

Cassandra Roshu | Photo Editor

After creating chalk art or grabbing pins, visitors to the National Coming Out Day event made tie-dye tees. Members of the SU Pride Union helped visitors make colorful rainbow designs.
Cassandra Roshu | Photo Editor

During their first year on campus in 2021, junior Traska felt Pride Union could have been doing a better job with campus engagement. They wanted to avoid other people having that same experience, and now Traska is the executive secretary for Pride Union.

Like Cohen, Traska found “the right group of people.” They wanted to get involved and help others to be comfortable with themselves because it took Traska a long time to get there.

“(I want to) build space for them to feel comfortable and I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job,” Traska said.

Traska came out as asexual and nonbinary during their freshman year. They started coming out by shaving their head and letting people in their dorm know what their pronouns were. They began to “settle into a new rhythm of life.”

Cohen emphasized the idea that not every queer person needs to come out. Although National Coming Out Day promotes a stronger visibility among queer people, the process of coming out can be complicated.

“It doesn’t have to just be about the act of actually announcing your identity to people. There’s a lot of factors and reasons why someone might not feel comfortable or safe to be doing that,” Cohen said. “But you can still come out to yourself. You can still embrace who you are to yourself.”

Chinmayi Joshi is a second-year graduate student in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. She identifies as bisexual and said she never officially came out. She talks about her identity if it comes up, and told her friends about her identity when she was 20, but never made a large announcement.

“I come from a country where this is not very normalized yet. I think we are in the process of getting normalized, being queer,” Joshi said. “It was a little shocking for my friends … But they were all very supportive, all of them.”

Joshi said “Chalk the Walk” was her first queer event on campus. As an international student, she said events like these help her feel included and find a community.

Freshman Emily Lemberger said she grew up attending a small Catholic school. While going to school there, she came out to her friends and lost a friendship when she did.

“(Events like this) happening here at this school — at my last school, this did not exist,” Lemberger said. “It’s a big school. I didn’t know anybody when I got here, so I felt like I got a fresh start.”

Emmett Kobasa also saw SU as a new start. For him, National Coming Out Day is important because it helps “baby queers” who just came out to feel accepted, as well as providing an opportunity for allies to support the queer people around them.

Kobasa identifies as a trans man on the non-binary and asexual spectrums. He came out when he was 12 and found a supportive community with his family and girlfriend. As an art student, he joked his major involves “all colors of the rainbow” and said his experience at SU has been accepting.

“(Events like this) are super important, especially for students who don’t really have a solid group,” Kobasa said. “It fosters a sense of community.”

Published on October 11, 2023 at 11:14 pm