Rider students out and proud for National Coming Out Day
By Bridget Gum-Egan
THE Center for Diversity and Inclusion opened up its doors to people of the LGBTQIA+ community with “Speak Out,” an event that allowed students to share coming out stories and experiences on Oct. 11 to celebrate National Coming Out Day.
This year Rider took the initiative to give students a safe space.
While it is an important day for the LGBTQIA+ community, not many people outside of it understand the history and significance.
The term “coming out,” established in the 1930s, refers to people making their sexuality and gender identity known to others. It derives from a tradition where young women would be presented to society in a debutante ball and “come out” as dateable or ready for marriage.
Since the 1960s, around the era of the Civil Rights Movement, the LGBTQIA+ community has been fighting for equality and legal protections in the country, but the 1980s marked the establishment of National Coming Out Day.
“In 1987, there was a march called the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington D.C. and it was a really big deal because it was around a couple 100,000 people… and big national-level folks came to support it,” said Erica Ryan, a professor in the department of history and philosophy.
The event’s press and guest list allowed recognition for National Coming Out Day for the first time in 1988, a year after the first march. National Coming Out Day spurred the decision to make October LGBTQ+ History Month.
In today’s society, Ryan has noticed a shift in the LGBTQIA+ community. Not only has acceptance in general gotten better, but she’s noticed people are coming out much earlier in their lives, often around middle school.
“Very often, college campuses were the place that queer people would first actually come out, once they’re away from their families … maybe that’s happening before kids get to college,” said Ryan.
That was certainly the case for Adrianna Jaccoma, a senior English major. “I was like 12 or 13 watching Glee and I saw Santana Lopez and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I might be gay,’” said Jaccoma.
When reflecting, Jaccoma could definitely see the signs much earlier in her childhood, but it wasn’t until middle school that it fully occurred to her.
“It wasn’t until two years later where I actually came to terms with being gay and started telling my friends … I don’t know why, but I felt the need to tell people I’m gay,” explained Jaccoma.
Jaccoma had mostly positive experiences when coming out; however, it did take a while for her parents to come to terms with it.
“At first they were in shock and they were like, ‘Oh my God, my daughter can’t be gay’ … they were in denial for a minute,” said Jaccoma.
Jaccoma’s parents have since become more comfortable with her sexuality and have learned how to be respectful toward her.
For the most part, Jaccoma has had a positive experience here at Rider, though she doesn’t always tell people that she’s gay.
“I feel like it’s been pretty welcoming. I feel like no one really judges you for being gay or using certain pronouns [at Rider]. Professors are usually pretty good about it, at least in my experience. … I feel like it’s a pretty safe environment and good community,” said Jaccoma.
Ryan echoes these feelings as well. Over the 14 years she’s worked here, she’s seen an increase in sexuality and gender expression as well as advocacy, education, training and support for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“In 2013-14, students started … talking to faculty members and administrators about things that were important to them, like gender neutral bathrooms, encouraging professors to do some training around pronoun usage and encouraging professors to include queerness in their syllabi,” said Ryan.
Rider even formed SafeZone training, created the LGBTQIA+ tripartite committee and participated in the campus pride index, a survey that shows how students feel about campus acceptance and education regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.
Of the 700 student respondents, the survey showed about 154 identify as a sexual minority, while about 24 identify as a gender minority. However, it also showed that non-binary and transgender students report higher disparaging remarks and low satisfaction with climate and institutional support.
Both Jaccoma and Ryan think a lot of progress has been made for the LGBTQ+ community overall, but they also believe that there are still improvements to be made both within and outside of the community.
“As a community, we need to prioritize using pronouns properly. We need to prioritize making sure students know that the ways they want to be addressed are being honored and that someone cares enough to ask,” said Ryan.