National Coming Out Week at Green River

As the wild Washington weather cancelled afternoon classes for a lot of students, attendance was remarkably high for last Friday’s Green River College Drag show commencing the end of the second annual National Coming Out week.   

Through out the second week of Fall Quarter, Green River College’s Student life implemented five events for each day of the week.  On Monday, students were asked to click the like button on the Student Life Facebook page resulting in a free t-shirt giveaway.  On Tuesday, over 300 cupcakes were distributed to students as well as with a large Halloween candy bowl with male and female contraceptives up for grabs for the students. On Wednesday, 30 Green River students and faculty came together for a heart-felt discussion, asking questions and learning about the LGBTQ community from personal testimonies.  On Thursday, Student Life representatives gave away No H8 buttons for Green River students to pin to their clothes.  Finally, on Friday, professional Seattle Drag Queens brought the stage to life for the Drag Show acting as the finale for National Coming Out Week.

Melisa Williams, Director of Student Life, positively talked about the week.  

“For our 2nd National Coming Out Week I felt that it was a success and it was something we can build on to be more successful in the future,” said Williams.  

Many of the Student Life activity members, organized the bulk of the National Coming Out Week events.  Working with the health department and buying the T-shirts, buttons, and the contraceptives. On Tuesday, they had a plethora of contraceptives such as male condoms, female condoms, dental damns and lube.  

Williams said, “The Health Department had a great response asking about their services and their products and working with us.”

By supporting the community and providing the student body with a variety of protective sexual products,  small clothing items and tasty cupcakes, it provides students with a sense of pride in their peers and themselves. It also made all the difference in one’s life, who is struggling to find themselves.    

Wednesday’s event, The Panel Discussion, had an overarching impact among students and community members. The conversation opened for many Green River Queers and Ally members, students, faculty, and other community members. Students were asked to write questions and personal stories on 3×5 note cards.  Nine panelist, each varying in ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, participated in it.  In fact, Heaven Quirin, LGBTQ and Peer Navigator at Office of Diversity and Conclusion, talked about last Wednesday’s event.   

“The panel had the most impact because it brought a humanistic side to the events through out the week,” said Quirin, “Participants could ask questions about being LGBTQ and the community at Green River.”  

Pauline Elevazo, Arts and Culture chair, and second year member of student life also commented on the impact of Wednesday’s event. 

“I heard testimonies from faculty which was inspiring for me because I knew their stories but I was also able to hear questions from other students who did not know their stories,” said Elevazo. 

Victoria Pacho, President of Queers and Allies and Speaker of the House for Multi-Cultural Student Congress also had thoughts on Wednesday’s panel.  

“The Panel was interesting because the conversation shifted from what are you to how can I help you,” said Pacho.   

The allies in the meeting were not concerned about the identity/orientation  of their fellow classmates but they wanted to know how they can help the community as a whole.  

The LGBTQ Green River club, Queers and Allies, also helped organize the events during the week making the string of events an overall success. The club is a safe space and a fun gathering for LGBTQ student body and their Allies to become friends and to participate actively in campus life and events.  Some suggestions were brought up such as better collaboration when creating the events, planning ahead of time, working as a a collective.  

“Queers and Allies should take a more authoritative role because in order to serve the community you need to ask what they need,” said Pacho, “Even though we have a difference of opinions, we shouldn’t allow it to divide us but it should challenge us to become more inclusive of our differences,” said Pacho. 

 In campus life, in general, a couple further suggestions are made. First, the Green River faculty has no official training in Cultural Sensitivity.  Second, some of the activities have high energy and are a lot of fun but they could make some improvements on educating the public about each event.  

By training faculty on Cultural Sensitivity and bringing awareness to our surroundings, our communication strengthens actively coming together as a community. Cultural Sensitivity also includes implementing counseling services and creating safe spaces, places for students to go when they feel the need.   

Friday’s Drag show was an event that allowed students to experience a different cultural experience in the LGBTQ community.  Particularly, it gave an authentic cultural experience to our 21 and under international students.  The proud queens proudly strutted in their high heels and jumping up onto the tables giving a couple members of the audience a little more personal show. Overall, mother nature made it rain for these queens, they performed as if this were a professional show out in the big city of Seattle.  

Only a couple suggestions were made about the event. Mainly, we could make it more educational, including having guest speakers such as Drag queen and other drag team members such as make-up artists and padding experts.  Also, for some of our artistically inclined students who share passions in fashion and make up, perhaps they can shadow these individuals as they prepare for a show.  Possibly, creating connections and allowing students and faculty to work hand to hand in the community.     

Overall, all of the events supported the LGBTQ community at Green River. Perhaps the further strategies and communicating ideas could be discussed.  However, the over arching message of support and love shined through the muggy clouds of Washington as many Green River Students welcomed the string of events with open arms. Some may have just simply liked a page on Facebook for a t-shirt or grabbed a cupcake and a dental dam, while others openly testified their stories on Wednesday’s discussion.  The smallest amount of support makes the biggest difference making our Green River Family an inclusive entity.  A force that trumps hate.