Cal State Long Beach will host National Coming Out Week, consisting of events coordinated by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center starting Oct. 6.
National Coming Out Day is an international event giving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex, queer and questioning individuals the opportunity to “come out” to others about their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Kirstyn Chun, a psychologist at the CSULB Counseling and Psychological Services and LGBTIQ support group facilitator, said National Coming Out Week will be “focusing on segments of the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community that are often overlooked, especially transgender and bisexual individuals.”
She also hopes the events next week will focus on Proposition 8, which opposes approval of same-sex marriages in California.
“We appreciate the university being supportive of LGBT education events on campus because they are an important component on educating students on diversity in Southern California,” Chun said.
The event will also be an opportunity for students and faculty to get information on the challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Chun said.
CSULB junior Natalie Cruz believes National Coming Out Week will benefit students.
“I’m excited to see what kind of events these are going to be,” Cruz said. “Overall, I know this will be good because a lot of students don’t know much about this stuff.”
National Coming Out Day was first established in 1988, in remembrance of the march at Washington D.C. for Lesbian and Gay rights on the same day in 1987.
Sponsors for National Coming Out Day include the LGBT resource center at CSULB, student life and development, counseling and psychological services and the student health services health resource center.
This is not about our personal lives Chris, this is about acceptance and understanding. As much as I would like to think that California is a liberal and open state, there are many ignorant and closed minded individuals who need to be informed and educated about the issues effecting us.
that comment was aimed at the first comment, not the second.
something as trivial as human rights? if you consider human rights trivial i can only assume that you are ignorant about the concept itself. College, while being a place to learn in a classroom, is more importantly a place to learn from experience and the experiences of others. These students are simply trying to teach about aspects of our society that some, including both of you, may not be familiar with. should we not talk about sudan, uganda, Iraq, and other human rights violations, or the pursuit of equality for the gay community, ethnic groups, people with disabilities? after all, like you said human rights are “wasted time.”
but please, continue on using your “intellectual energy” for more productive things. good luck with that.
You’re right Chris. Why would people spend all of this wasted time and energy on something as trivial as human rights (or lack thereof)?
Why are politics on campus? (in any shape). A school campus is not a place for this kind of activity. I don’t care what you do in your home or whatever, but seriously. Can’t we find better ways to occupy our time? School is a place to go to class, not talk about our personal lives and practices. I think everyone should be who they are, but do we need to run around school trying to promote a certain way of living? Think of all the intellectual energy wasted on such campus events. Its time we start educating ourselves on things that are more important.