EVERY SEMESTER since 1980, the queer community at the University has joined together for a week of celebration of our culture, our lives, and our connections to the larger Univeristy community. Proud to Be Out Week is a unifying experience for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students as we together commemorate how far our community has come and learn how far we still need to go, both in Charlottesville and nationwide. But most importantly, Proud to Be Out Week is a way to reach out to both our allies and those who want to learn more about queer culture and community. Through social events, educational panels, guest speakers and even theater and dance, we work to raise the visibility of the LGBT community, connect with allies, promote awareness of the issues that are important to us and celebrate our university’s diversity.
The Queer Student Union (QSU) is Charlottesville’s oldest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied individuals. QSU strives to provide a safe, welcoming and confidential environment for all members, to promote visibility of the queer community and to provide a social and educational outlet for LGBT people and allies. In this spirit, QSU is celebrating Proud to Be Out week by focusing on the pride that each one of us feels about our lives. We are proud to be out and proud to live in a time and age in which being out is possible. Many of you participated in our public art project earlier this week and told us what you were proud of. You told us that you were proud of yourselves, of your friends, our university, our country and of the equality you see around you here at the University. These answers we saw show us that regardless of sexual orientation, our common humanity and passion connect us all in ways that transcend sexuality. Drag Bingo this Saturday night is a chance to celebrate pride and diversity in an uplifting, entertaining and fun way, and we invite everyone to join us there to commemorate the end of an eventful week.
In addition to celebrating queer culture, LBGTQ and allied students also use Proud to Be Out Week as a platform to raise awareness of problems facing the LBGT community. Queer & Allied Activism (QuAA) is an organization that is dedicated to addressing issues afflicting the LGBT at the University, in the state of Virginia and nationwide. For this semester’s Proud To Be Out Week, QuAA is focusing on confronting homophobia here on Grounds. Homophobia or bigotry affects LGBT individuals’ quality of life in far-reaching ways; from personal interactions, to gay jokes, to discriminatory legislation. Examples of homophobia include outright discriminatory legislation such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which denies LGB servicemembers from serving openly, and your friend calling something “gay” when he or she doesn’t like something. Homophobia threatens the lives of LGBT people everyday and continually denies queer individuals their humanity, their dignity and their personhood.
Just 10 years ago a young, openly gay University of Wyoming student was brutally murdered because of homophobia. His name was Matthew Shepard and his tragic story is the basis for The Laramie Project, a play that is being performed by Queer & Allied Activism this Friday. In case you are thinking, “this sort of thing doesn’t happen here,” in September of 2000 a man dressed in a trench coat who vowed to “waste some fags” walked into a bar in Roanoke, Virginia, opened fire and shot seven people. Currently, the state of Virginia still does not have hate crimes legislation protecting gender identity or sexual orientation. QuAA is working to reverse the antiquated thinking about the LGBT community that breeds and sustains homophobia.
In order to effect positive change for the LGBT community, take a stand and be an ally. Attend The Laramie Project on Friday and correct someone who says “That’s so gay,” when they really mean something is asinine. Attend Drag Bingo on Saturday and celebrate the pride and diversity of the University. Don’t assume that everyone around you is straight; each one of us has a different story, and you never know who you might be affecting with your words. Use inclusive, gender-neutral language like “partner” or “significant other” instead of “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” Let other people know that you support LGBT people, and get involved in the queer and allied community by being part of QSU or QuAA. Bayard Rustin, the openly-gay civil rights activist stated, “When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.” Through the efforts of LGBT-identified and ally individuals, such as Proud to Be Out Week, we will one day be able to overcome the adversity facing the LGBT community and achieve full equality so that LGBT people will not have to protest in order to confer dignity upon themselves.
Brit Shean is President of the Queer Student Union and Heather Welborn is President of Queer & Allied Activism.
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