Stepping up to the podium, fourth-year College student Arni Mapili turned to face a crowd of about 70 onlookers. Poised and confident, he began a well-rehearsed speech — his coming out story.
The speech was a part of Coming Out Stories, an event held during the LGBTQ Center’s biannual Proud To Be Out Week. The week’s events included the Queer Student Union’s Drag Bingo, LGBT (Let’s Get Brunch Together) On The Lawn, free and confidential HIV/AIDS testing through the AIDS Services Group and an international gay rights seminar. Additionally, Sigma Omicron Rho, the only queer and allied fraternity on Grounds, worked to make a “Pride Quilt” by the Lawn, and queer spoken word poet Andrea Gibson performed later that week.
Coming Out Stories, in particular, served as a resource for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students to vocally affirm their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“[The speakers] are sharing a piece of themselves that might hurt to share,” fourth-year College student Abe Wapner said. “[They are] making it visible, showing it’s okay to come out and that you’ll have a support network.”
Many speakers cited familial and social relationships as defining their coming-out process.
“My parents were very devout Protestant Filipinos, so there was a wide variety of socially conservative influences in my household,” Mapili said. “It was very difficult convincing myself it would be okay to be an LGBTQ person in their eyes.”
At the University, however, many LGBTQ students find themselves in a completely different atmosphere.
“Even in the last three years, I’ve seen an increase in support at U.Va.,” Wapner said. “Living on the Lawn and being openly gay, I feel so comfortable.”
Many people in attendance applauded the University for its efforts in reaching out.
“It [may be] one of under 50 institutions in the nation to actually have an LGBTQ Center with someone hired just to meet our needs,” fifth-year Curry student Cindy Gray said.
In addition, programs such as Proud To Be Out Week provide a constructive outlet for students who are not yet involved to become active in University’s LGBTQ community. Gray believes many students who attended the Coming Out Stories event are those considering coming out themselves.
“It helps people realistically see when to come out,” Gray said. “A lot more positive stories [are put] out there, and hearing those kinds of stories is really inspiring for people who are thinking about coming out.”
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