Students given chance to “come out” on Quad

October 14, 2009
By Andrew Mitchell
Copy Editor

The LGBTQ community at UIS had originally planned to make their National Coming Out Week a celebration of self-pride. But when three current students were charged with attacking two others on campus, allegedly because of their sexual orientation, it gave their week an added sense of purpose.

That could explain why the dance music was playing a little louder during their “Speak Out!” event. Community members and supporters were encouraged to walk on a small stage and pass through a door, effectively “coming out of the closet,” again, with a handful of people cheering them on in the process.

Covered in graffiti and messages of support, the door stood as a symbol of solidarity, said LGBGT graduate assistant Sarah Hale.

“We worked so hard on building it,” she said. “This past month, everyone said, 'There's no way you're going to get it to stand and not blow over.' But we did it.”

Freshman History Major Henry Borgard said building and painting the door alone were acts of solidarity against the attacks.

“The first thing I did with the graffiti was put the newspaper down,” he said, referring an issue of “The Journal,” with the faces of the three accused attackers on the front page. “The first thing we did was cross their faces out.”

Hale said she planned on bringing the door out for other events on campus and repainting it red every year, so a new group of students can make their mark on it.

At any rate, the community said they both felt a surge support after the weekend. Hale said the rally on the Monday following the attack, which they did not plan, and the statement of support from Chancellor Richard Ringeisen added purpose to their week

“It was an incredible thing to be a part of Monday night,” she said, “reclaiming campus and saying we're not going to stand for this kind of behavior.”

Borgard agreed; “Having something like this is basically our way of saying, 'You can't shut us up. You can't make us sit down and be quiet.' Just because this happened doesn't mean we're not going to do 'Coming Out Week.'”