BY MIRIAM HAUSER

In print | Published October 22, 2009

With the end of fall break on Sunday came the beginning of the annual Coming Out Week, a Swarthmore tradition that encourages awareness of queer issues. Over the course of the week, the queer community and the student body as a whole have had the opportunity to attend various events addressing these issues.

“I hope that people are able to take a break from their post-break midterms and projects long enough to really take advantage of the lectures and amazing performances that are being put on,” Lang Haynes ’12, a member of the planning committee for Coming Out Week, said.

Coming Out Week is linked to National Coming Out Day, which encourages people to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. Coming Out Week at Swarthmore operates separately from National Coming Out Day, but aims toward a similar purpose.

The week opened with AIDS Walk Philly, the Delaware Valley’s “largest annual HIV/AIDS public awareness and fundraising event,” according to the event’s website. The walk, which began in 1987, is 12 kilometers long (5.4 miles) through downtown Philadelphia and aims to raise money to support HIV/AIDS education, prevention and services.

Other events, open and closed, have occurred on campus. These have included a screening of “Philadelphia,” a movie starring Tom Hanks as a gay man living with AIDS and discrimination in the corporate world, co-sponsored by the gender and sexuality program, QSA and the Sexual Health Counselors; a discussion of Bible passages in relation to homosexuality; a meeting on queer activism; and a closed Swarthmore Queer Union meeting called “Questioning and Comfort Food.”
Tonight, 3X a Lady Crew will be performing at Olde Club with Philly hip-hop artist Benni E, a queer female rapper, and Danna Gala, a drag artist. 3X a Lady is an all-women’s feminist hip hop crew that addresses issues including but not limited to sexism, queerness and race.

Tomorrow students can see YaliniDream perform, a queer Sri Lankan spoken word artist, as well as attend Queer Shabbat. On Saturday night, a “Vogue” themed Paces party will mark the end of Coming Out Week, with an alternative queer-themed dry parlor party to take place in Shane Lounge.
“With the variety of events this year, from musical and spoken word performances, to hearing what queer activists are up to these days, to open and closed group meetings, to two alternatives to celebrate Coming Out Week on Saturday night, I really hope we’ve put together something everyone feels they can be a part of,” Lauren Stern ’12, one of the week’s student organizers, said.
In the past, Coming Out Week has been marked by controversy over the campus-wide chalkings that advertise the event. The pro-queer chalking first began appearing on campus in the mid 1980s, but was then increasingly done in response to anti-queer acts of violence and vandalism.

These early chalkings were sometimes met with hostile, retaliatory chalking, although pro- and anti-queer graffiti continued to appear on campus into the 1990s. Eventually, the pro-queer chalking became associated with Coming Out Week, but continued to be met with both negative and positive responses. In some cases, the chalkings have even been washed out by students.

The chalkings appeared on campus walks this Monday morning, with messages such as “Being called a faggot is not fabulous” or “Vaginas are gross” signed “a gay man.” Other messages included listings of well-known members of the LGBT community and messages of advocacy and support for the LGBT community.

As in past years, the response to this year’s chalkings has been mixed, even by people in support of their messages.

First-year Mariah Parker, for instance, admired the chalkings’ messages, but was worried about their effectiveness and purpose.

“It seems to me that they should do more for outreach, as opposed to the chalkings,” Parker said. “It seems more good could be done in the community.”

But for many, the chalkings, and Coming Out Week as a whole, are simply a reminder of the support that can be found in the Swarthmore community for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The week can offer those dealing with issues of sexual orientation or gender identity a message of acceptance and encouragement and facilitate campus wide discussion about queer issues.

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