oday was national coming out day and the GSA-equivlant
organization here on campus organized a small event. I'm the VP, so of
couse I helped out. I realize now I chose to be the VP so I could help
and be out but only semi-publicly... in safe situations.
So
today I was wearing our tight bright pink "National Coming Out Day"
T-Shrits and staffing the "gay club" event. I was so afriad to do it at
first because I was afriad what people would say. Most people didn't
say anything too negiative and we were surveying people, so they had
plenty of time to tell us to fuck off.
The evening before I had
been correcting homework for the class I TA. They had to turn in and do
a sociologial analysis of advertisements, many of which involved themes
such as "women as sex objects". I thought it was so funny today when I
handed back the papers and one of the students asked "you liked this
one too, right" and pointed to the ad he'd turned in. (It featured a
partially exposed female model.) I stood there in my bright pink skin
tight shirt with "National Coming Out Day" and upside down triangles
printed on it. I fidgeted with my rainbow necklace, dumbfounded at his
apparent lack of observational skills. I'd like to say he was so
non-judgemental that he simply assumed I was an ally, but rather I
think it's more that he was so heterosexist that he just assumed that I
must be straight.
I just sarcastically said, "Sure" and laughed. He completely missed the connotation and thought I was agreeing.
On
the bright side, I was told I have a job because the shirts I
silkscreened came out so well that someone has offered to pay me to do
them. Which means I get to eat even at the end of the month when food
stamps run out... which is really nice.
Posted at 11:57 am by energyball
