October 03, 2016
Halle Thornton
To help promote and support National Coming Out Day, MOSAIC hopes students will visit their celebration in October to become informed and educated about the LGBT community on campus.
MOSAIC will host National Coming Out Day Celebration, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 11 in Berger Hall. The event will educate the campus about the LGBT community and the resources MOSAIC offers.
This carnival-style event will host different clubs, departments and outside community organizations such as Spectrum and Transmission, the newly established transgender club on campus.
Trivia, games and information about resources around the community will be provided.
The event was last held five years ago, and it is being re-implemented this fall, according to Jesse Perez, assistant director of MOSAIC and the director of the LGBT program.
Perez hopes this will be an annual celebration moving forward.
“At its core it’s meant to recognize prideful visibility and allies of the LGBT community,” said Perez.
It is important to combat homophobia, and the holiday, which is celebrated internationally, provides a chance for the campus to learn about the LGBT community, according to Perez.
On National Coming Out Day, LGBT members come out to friends and family, said Perez.
“They begin living life as an open member of the LGBTQ community,” said Perez.
One of the community organizations that will be at the event is the Colorado Springs Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, an organization that is inclusive of all LGBT identities. The organization’s mission is to educate parents of LGBT children, as it is not commonly talked about, according to Perez.
Perez added that students from out of state would really benefit from the event because they can learn about different resources around the community.
For more information about the event, visit uccs. edu/mosaic.