Are You OUTstanding?

23 October 2012 Are You OUTstanding?

October is a month dedicated to various causes and social issues, such as breast cancer awareness and domestic violence awareness. For the LGBT community, October is also Ally Month. This month, the HWS Pride Alliance is initiating a movement called the Im OUTstanding campaign to bring attention to the openly out members of the HWS community as well as proud allies.

Created by Pride Allianceboard memberRachel Braccini 15, the Im OUTstanding campaign operates through the utilization of poster ads- similar to the HWS Votes and the Get Caught Green-handed campaigns. Staff, faculty and students are asked to take time out of their day to get their photo taken while holding a sign that states why theyre OUTstanding.

The point of a poster campaign is to highlight resources for students who may be struggling with their sexual orientation. It will showcase all allies and any openly out members of the community, and it will also hopefully give students who arent really clear on what it means to be an ally some insight into how simple it is, says Braccini. Recently, the campus received a 5/5 Campus Climate rating regarding LGBT issues. The poster campaign will help solidify and promote this, she says.

The Im OUTstanding campaign has no official end date because being an ally does not stop once the month is over. It may very well be a yearlong campaign, as long as there are willing participants, says Braccini. The Colleges staff photographers will be photographing all participants in the Office Communications (Durfee House). If you are interested in being a part of the campaign, e-mail rachel.braccini@hws.edu to sign up.

Members of Pride Alliance include Julia Leavitt 13, president; Kelly Wendt 14, vice president; Rachel Braccini 15, treasurer; Danielle Stokel 15, secretary; and Kellsey Walls 13, public relations officer. The club meets every Wednesday in the Intercultural Affairs House at 9 p.m. The IC provides a safe place for students-regardless of sexual orientation-to talk about issues that they may not feel comfortable talking about anywhere else.

The photo above features the Pride Alliance tabling in the Scandling Campus Center.