2008 Woodie Awards
'Coming Out Day' highlights need for open communication
Mathew Cobb
Issue date: 10/18/06 Section: News
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A sparse, but supportive, crowd gathered in the oUWTpost Wednesday afternoon to observe the Queer-Straight Alliance's celebration of National Coming Out Day, which is recognized countrywide as a day to examine critical issues facing those connected to the sexual minority community.
Several tables presented such topics as common misconceptions about gay relationships, steps for one to come out to oneself as well as family and friends, and a questionnaire for heterosexuals pertaining to issues affecting both straight and gay lifestyles.
A primary objective of the observance is to break down barriers dividing heterosexuals and homosexuals. These barriers involve conflicting views of relationships, judgment and the "choice" to lead a gay lifestyle; all views that ultimately prevent constructive communication.
"Any topic revolving around the GLBT [Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual] community is uncomfortable for many people to talk about," said Forrest Stepnowski, chair of the QSA, an on-campus organization that promotes social support for all students, gay or otherwise. "But how are people going to be challenged to deal with their own phobias if we don't talk about them?"
Illustrating that comment, nine participants sat in a circle at the event and contorted four colored pipe cleaners into interlocking shapes meant to symbolize the four most important aspects of their lives. The mediator, Amy Cummings, a psychology resident in the Counseling, Health, Wellness and Awareness department at the University of Puget Sound, encouraged all the individuals to share with the group what each pipe cleaner represented.
The exercise demonstrated that open communication and sharing of similar values within a diverse group of mainly strangers reflected the hesitant, but positive, "coming out" by many individuals concerning their sexuality.
Coming out is an intensely emotional process involving an individual's acknowledgement of their being homosexual, first to themselves and then to people closest to them.
Several tables presented such topics as common misconceptions about gay relationships, steps for one to come out to oneself as well as family and friends, and a questionnaire for heterosexuals pertaining to issues affecting both straight and gay lifestyles.
A primary objective of the observance is to break down barriers dividing heterosexuals and homosexuals. These barriers involve conflicting views of relationships, judgment and the "choice" to lead a gay lifestyle; all views that ultimately prevent constructive communication.
"Any topic revolving around the GLBT [Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual] community is uncomfortable for many people to talk about," said Forrest Stepnowski, chair of the QSA, an on-campus organization that promotes social support for all students, gay or otherwise. "But how are people going to be challenged to deal with their own phobias if we don't talk about them?"
Illustrating that comment, nine participants sat in a circle at the event and contorted four colored pipe cleaners into interlocking shapes meant to symbolize the four most important aspects of their lives. The mediator, Amy Cummings, a psychology resident in the Counseling, Health, Wellness and Awareness department at the University of Puget Sound, encouraged all the individuals to share with the group what each pipe cleaner represented.
The exercise demonstrated that open communication and sharing of similar values within a diverse group of mainly strangers reflected the hesitant, but positive, "coming out" by many individuals concerning their sexuality.
Coming out is an intensely emotional process involving an individual's acknowledgement of their being homosexual, first to themselves and then to people closest to them.
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