The Tufts Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC) celebrated National Coming Out Day yesterday with a festive and rainbow-themed rally on the Campus Center Patio, followed by a reception at Hillel.
The rally featured various speakers who spoke in support of promoting Tufts as a tolerant and non-divisive campus. Many also spoke of their own personal experiences with coming out.
One purpose of the event is to have a visible demonstration of the resources available to those who are uncomfortable or scared about the idea of coming out, according to TTLGBC co-coordinators Stacy Ulrich and Jonah Keough, who organized the event.
Among the speakers were Chemistry Professor Chris Morse, who explained that as an undergraduate student, he was "just a big frat boy." Once he got attended graduate school at MIT Morse said he went through a confused two-year phase in which he questioned his sexuality. It was then that he realized that he was homosexual.
"You can see me wearing my rainbow necklace," Morse said, pointing to his neckline. "I started wearing this at MIT."
University President Larry Bacow spoke about the importance of creating a supportive environment for those questioning their sexuality at Tufts.
"We are not perfect, but we strive to be better, and that is what today is all about," he said.
The audience numbered about 50 people, including a number of professors and University officials. Attendees were receptive, and they laughed at and applauded the speakers' frequent jokes.
English Professor Jonathan Strong addressed the supposed divisiveness of Tufts' cultural groups, calling this phenomenon "a big lie around campus." The only thing splintering the Tufts community, Strong said, is intolerance. "Who is dividing who? Who is doing the splintering?" Strong asked the audience.
The event delved into the topic of religion and homosexuality though speeches by the various University religious personnel. University Chaplain Reverend David O'Leary, a Catholic priest, spoke about his religion's historic disapproval of homosexuality. He read passages from recent Catholic writings that support the homosexual members of the church.
"Lesbian, gay, [and] transsexual orientation is not wrong and it is not evil," O'Leary said. "Let us make Tufts University a family and a community where dignity, tolerance and respect are not just words, but a loved reality."
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit told the audience that God is about bringing people together, not pushing them apart. Referring to the Book of Genesis, he said all people _ not just some _ were created in God's image. "Be who you are," Summit said. "God made people in wonderful different ways. Celebrate that."
Other speakers invoked personal and unconventional choices that they have made. "Courage is the power to let go of the familiar," Jodie Nealley, the Director of Student Activities, said. Nealley discussed the ways in which she has personally let go of the familiar, including holding a marriage ceremony with her partner, using in vitro fertilization to conceive a son, and then legally adopting her son with her partner. Nealley said that she feels privileged to live in a state where all of those things are possible.
Michelle Bowdler, director of Health Services, also spoke of her experience with her own partner and son. She had difficulties in coming out, she said, and sometimes she still is not sure how to handle certain situations. At her son's "Back to School Night," she and her partner left a note for their son but were unsure whether to sign, "Love, your moms." Nonetheless, "I couldn't be prouder of who I am and of my family," Bowdler said.
Members of the cultural centers and the counseling center also spoke in support of a united community at Tufts.
Ulrich jokingly described her coming out experience during her freshman year. She rarely got dressed up and blow-dried her hair, she said, but she made exceptions on Coming Out Day and sorority rush. The latter "didn't go as planned," Ulrich said.
Addressing members of the audience who were nervous or frightened, Ulrich said, "If anyone needs a hug, come on up here and I'll give you one."
After the speakers were finished, the microphone was opened up to the audience. Sophomore Leah Knobler seized the opportunity and told the assembled crowd just how much the TTGLBC support on Coming Out Day had helped her to come out.
"Last year on Coming Out Day, I made up any excuse I could to go to the campus center just so I could listen to the speakers," Knobler said. "I asked all my friends if they wanted to go to Jumbo Express.... Last year at this time, I was a completely different person."
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