GLC member participates in NCOW event
Boston College celebrates “National Coming Out Week” (NCOW) this week.
Founded in 1988, NCOW has been celebrated at Boston College for at least a decade, according to BC junior Kelsey Gasseling and senior Larissa Belcic, president and vice president of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Leadership Council (GLC).
NCOW originated as National Coming Out Day, which was started to commemorate the 1987 “First National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights,” an event that over 500,000 people attended.
These marches originated from the gay rights movement in the United States and achieved a large, successful turnout due predominantly to the efforts of American politician and gay rights activist, Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978.
Gasseling and Belcic believe that the purpose of NCOW is consistent with the values of a Catholic and Jesuit institution of developing the “whole person.”
“[NCOW] strives to welcome, celebrate, and accept the whole person by encouraging students to leave behind ignorance and prejudice and truly love themselves and others,” Gasseling said.
Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn agrees that NCOW has a place at BC. “As a Jesuit, Catholic University we value the dignity of all of God’s children and are committed to providing a welcoming environment for our GLBTQ students. Discussions regarding sexual orientation and its relationship with the Church are welcome and consistent with our role as a university,” Dunn said.
“Boston College, as a whole, has been very supportive of its GLBTQ and Allied community’s participation in National Coming Out Week,” Gasseling said. Gasseling and Belcic insist that NCOW is about promoting love and acceptance. They hope that students feel welcome to ‘come out’ for whatever it is that they are passionate for, and to free themselves from the constraints of ignorance-based limitations.”
As part of NCOW, the GLC will host an open-mic night on Tuesday, a musical performance by a bisexual Chinese-American band on Wednesday, a “guess who’s gay” event on Thursday, and a dance on Friday to close out the week.
Corrected: 10/28/2009
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Thank you for the article. However, I would like to note that “promoting homosexuality” is not a goal of National Coming Out Weeek nor of the GLC. I think you will find that GLBT organizations “promoting homosexuality” are very rare. Instead, these organizations, including the GLC, strive to find only acceptance , respect, and equality in the larger community, not to promote any lifestyle over another.