Coming Out Day? More Like Coming Out Slay!

As you might have noticed by the abundance of pride flags in the halls and the large flag painted in the Black Top, October was very important for the LGBTQ+ community. October 11th is coming out day, which although not the most celebrated day for the community, is still an important day for the community. For three years now, the Spectrum Club, which is the school’s club that helps create a safe space for queer students and allows for conversations as a gay-straight alliance, has pushed for coming out day to be an important date here at school, with every year having a larger celebration than the last. Since we are not in school during June, which is pride month and would be more fitting for all of our celebrations, we move all of our attention to coming out day in October. As part of Spectrum’s leadership team, coming out day is arguably one of the most important dates for the club, as we get to celebrate our identity and share experiences with one another. So, the presence of the flags is not there to push an agenda but rather to help celebrate and make part of our school community feel more comfortable and push for visibility.

I want to share, for the people that were not aware of the celebration but were confused about the presence of the flags, what coming out day and the days before and after that were like for the club. First, the flag on the Black Top. This was Spectrum’s main goal and event for the day since it was the most visible, (thus, spreading awareness). We started working on the flag the weekend before coming out day, coming to school on Saturday and Sunday to first outline the flag, paint a white base, and then add each color. Painting the flag took around 4 hours each day to complete and a vast amount of paint (I’ll spare you the details about how much we used). Compared to other years, the flag has been kept up at the Black Top, an improvement to other years where it was immediately painted over, which is not the message we wanted to give out to our club members and other LGBTQ+ members at school.

During the week, we had two separate meetings with the club to talk about everyone's experience with coming out, either to family or friends, and how that occasion changed for different people. Club members shared instances where coming out was funny, sad, motivational, and happy and it was overall a nice space for people to share their experiences and feel more like a community.

Finally, one of the most memorable moments of the whole week for me and many other club members was our guest speaker on Wednesday. Spectrum invited Diana Attri and Joy (from the hit Mexican band Jesse y Joy) to talk about their own experiences with coming out, and how this event has changed throughout the years. Diana had already spoken about her experience during this year's TedxYouth event here at school, which is why we decided it would be great to have her come talk to us and expand on what she said there. I think one of the things that stuck out to me the most from our two guests was how warm and welcoming they were with all of us. Immediately after the meeting started, they encouraged us to stand up from our chairs and go sit down on the floor, making it seem less like a formal meeting and more like a casual, comfortable conversation. Diana and Joy shared how important it was for Joy, as a public figure, to set the record straight (pun intended) and let her fans and everyone know about her relationship and marriage with Diana. She also shared how labels are not always necessary, which is something very important for queer youths to hear as it is a very common struggle for people to pinpoint a label to come out with.

Members of the club, as well as a lot of people from outside the club who decided to come to the meeting, discussed the importance of coming out, and if it was necessary at all. Over the years coming out has become more and more controversial, as the idea of “coming out” enforces how LGBTQ+ people are separated from the rest of society.Although this is a very valid sentiment, many people believe that coming out is important, since at least having some sort of umbrella term for the community allows for it to be a community, creating crucial representation for us. Without coming out, the struggles of queer people throughout history and to this day would essentially be erased, since these struggles would no longer be related to sexuality but to some other factor. Overall, it is important to understand the complexities of coming out, looking at both its positives and negatives as well as understanding how important it is for the community to be represented. On that note, I want to end with a shout-out to all of the Spectrum club for having the courage to share their stories as well as a shout-out to Dani Olvera, Tamie Shibayama, Victoria Campos, and Nicole Porter for planning this all with me and a huge thanks to Carlos Cruz and Martha Dominguez for also helping us throughout this whole process and for being an inspiration for us all. ❤️ 🌈