For National Coming Out Day, Friday, Oct. 11, organization on the University of Akron campus are offering events where students can come to learn more about the challenges LGBTQIA+ others face and the ways that they can support them.
Friday, from noon to 1:30 p.m., students can come together in a safe space to support and celebrate our LGBTQIA+ community with “Coffee, Tea, and Community: Celebrating Safe Spaces on National Coming Out Day.” The event, held in the Jean Hower Taber Student Union Piano and International Lounge, where students can have conversations over a cup of coffee or tea. There will also be a photo booth for students who want to memorialize the event. The event offers the opportunity for the UA campus to show support.
Later on Friday, from 4 to 6 p.m., the Zips Activities Board (ZAB) has partnered with other organizations for its “National Coming Out Day Celebration,” which will also take place in the Jean Hower Taber Student Union Piano and International Lounge. Attendees will be able to learn more about LGBTQIA+ resources on campus, queer culture, and how to support someone on their coming out journey. The event includes a make your own flag paint station, post-it note murals, resources, and more.
Also on Friday, UA’s student run radio station, WZIP, will play music by queer artists and talk about how they are important.
Coming out is not always easy.
In a 2013 survey by Pew Research, 59% of adults surveyed said it was difficult to come out to their family.
Only 15% of nearly 34,000 LGBTQIA+ youth aged 13 to 24 surveyed in 2022 by The Trevor Project reported that their community was “very accepting.” In the survey, around 30% of the youth reported being physically attacked or threatened with physical harm due to their sexuality or gender identity.
How important is community support? 45% of LGBTQIA+ youth surveyed seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. The average LGBTQIA+ youth who live in a community or attend a school that is accepting of LGBTQIA+ people reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not.
River Sprinkle, a non-binary, UA graduate student who uses they/them pronouns, has words of encouragement for those who have already come out or are wanting to.
“Continue to grow and gain wisdom from the things you have to encounter, because they’re going to happen anyways,” they said.
Sprinkle hopes that other students won’t let worry hold them back.
“It’s kind of like if you plant a flower and it blooms in the spring, but you can’t enjoy the beauty of the flower because you worry it’s going to wilt when it dies,” they said.
For Sprinkle, moving forward even in the face of fear is an integral part of their experience.
“You might experience something that you’re afraid of, but it ends, and then you get to do the next thing. And if you’re not ready to step through it that’s okay,” Sprinkle said.
A big goal for the event, according to Frampton, is for the campus community to remain open minded, listen actively and try to understand LGBTQIA+ people’s perspectives, stories and experiences.
Everyone has a different story about how they came out as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and how it was received.
Sprinkle has a story to share about the name River and how they chose it.
Sprinkle wrote a letter to Pope Francis that described their feelings. “I felt like I was constantly changing like the water in a river, but I was still the same thing,” the letter said.
For Sprinkle, the analogy was an apropos way of describing their journey.
“The name or the location of that river doesn’t change, but the contents of it change constantly,” they said.
The pope replied.
In his response letter, Pope Francis said that maybe River should be their name.
Autumn Frampton, director of Multicultural Development, wants to welcome everyone to both events – even those who may not identify themselves as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
She stresses that students do not need to identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community to attend, listen to stories and provide support at either event.
“The event provides a safe and inclusive space where individuals can express themselves freely and connect with others who share similar experiences and/or allies,” Frampton said of the “Coffee, Tea, and Community” event.
“We hope that [by] coming together over a warm cup of coffee or tea, we can create an environment of warmth and acceptance. We want to celebrate the unique identities within the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
Frampton hopes members from all corners of the campus community will attend the events.
“I think it’s important to have this visibility on campus so that students can walk by and see that we’re supporting people and not just having those conversations inside classrooms,” Frampton said.
Based on the research conducted by The Trevor Project, creating that visible community and campus support can save lives.
The “Coffee, Tea, and Community: Celebrating Safe Spaces on National Coming Out Day” event is Friday, Oct. 11 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Jean Hower Taber Student Union International and Piano Lounge. It is free and open to all. It will be followed by the ZAB “National Coming Out Day Celebration” from 4 to 6 p.m., also in the International and Piano Lounge. Both events are free.
