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Posts tagged ‘LGBT’

Oct 25

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I’m Out.

I’m pretty sure Wednesday at Middlebury College will be a day for a collective sigh of relief.  The Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) is spearheading a community-wide “I’m Out” day Wednesday. From their website:

The idea for Midd Out Day is to have everyone participate communally in an event that allows each individual to assert that they are comfortable with their own unique identity. Though the phrase “Coming out” is often referred to within the narrative of sexual orientation, our hope is that we can broaden the context in which this statement can be used. By being ‘OUT’ on Oct 27 individuals have the opportunity to recognize that they have many unique identities.

… With this in mind we encourage everyone who wants to join the movement to wear a T-shirt with “OUT” on the chest on Wednesday Oct 27. We are going to be making the shirts on Proctor terrace from Sunday Oct 24 to Wednesday Oct 27, and would love it if you would come and join us! We will provide the T-shirts, the spray paint, and the music to inspire you- all you need to do is come and you can create your own OUT T-shirt. You may also feel free to bring a shirt you already own and would like to spray paint.

MOQA members have told me that they’re happily running out of shirts, but thanks to sponsorship from all five commons and the Dean of the college, they’ll have some more available tomorrow between 12 and 2 on Proctor terrace.

So stop by and paint either your own shirt or they’ll provide one for you.  And don’t forget to wear your shirt Wednesday.

Finally, I’m proud to say that this blog is now read by an audience outside of the immediate Middlebury College community.  I think this idea of everyone being “out” for a day can and should spread.

I believe everyone should be “out” as someone who respects themself and others regardless of their physical body or their “gender” (the way they assign meaning to their bodies).  As long as people are respecting themselves and others, people have the prerogative to interpret their bodies any way they want.

I also believe everyone should be “out” as a respectful person regardless of where they come from or what they look like.  I think it would be amazing if the t-shirts people at Middlebury will wear Wednesday spring up elsewhere.

Say what you want about “queer theory,” but we are all human beings, and we should all be “out” as tolerant people to ourselves and others.

The one qualification I would offer in this is that being “out” should not belittle how hard it can be to “come out” as a homosexual or whatever else.  If you need support, I hope you can take solace in how very often, it gets better.

 

Sep 22

6 Comments

Openness on Facebook

My editorial focus is on technology. And being at Middlebury, my first post clearly must somehow reference Facebook. No, I won’t be ranting about “New Facebook” (at least not today), but instead, I’ll be reporting my findings on a recent LGBT study I conducted using the highly advanced statistical tool known as the Facebook profile search button.

First, I searched for the number of straight, Middlebury student Facebook profiles with gender and gender-interest publicly viewable on the whole Middlebury College network: 1,000+ profiles all together.

Then I searched for the number of such queer profiles: less than 10 all together.

Now I know that I’m taking a risk, as sometimes sharing statistical findings gets people on the defensive. But, I’m only sharing them because they really intrigued me, and I thought they might intrigue you as well.

My first thought is that perhaps people are unfamiliar with Facebook’s extensive privacy settings. Then I wondered if perhaps there’s a perception that listing your sexuality on Facebook is in some way “militant” (for some people).

Thoughts?

I’ve also observed that not listing one’s sexuality on Facebook usually makes people assume a certain way. But, are such assumptions a cause (ie, of increased straight outness on Facebook), or an effect of the outness imbalance? And is there any relevance to–Microeconomic students will recognize this–the “all information is revealed” (unstable equilibria) principle?