With GLBT Awareness Week approaching, a platform will be provided Thursday for students who identify as part of the GLBT community to share their “coming out” stories.

The “Coming Out Monologues” held Thursday will be part of the many GLBT-related events held by the GLBT Resource Center this week. Formerly part of a woman’s and gender equity center, the GLBT Resource Center opened in 2007 for the first time as a standalone program. The center aims at being a resource of support for students who are looking to express themselves regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Danny Foster, a graduate assistant in the GLBT Resource Center, said the purpose of the event is to make the GLBT community and all its allies visible.

“[The event] allows students the opportunity to share their story of what it meant for them to come out and not only about when they came out, but every time they’ve had to come out [after that] in their life,” Foster said.

Chad Mandala, program coordinator to the GLBT Resource Center, said the event is intended to bring the community together.

“Coming out is really a personal journey,” Mandala said. “There’s no right way to come out. This is more of an opportunity for folks to talk about their story. I know that for me it was very powerful for me listening to other people’s coming out stories. But people have very personal and strong motives of why they wouldn’t be out. This is not meant to force anyone to come out.”

Foster said even students who do not identify as part of the GLBT community will have something to take away from the event.

“A lot of the students that do come out to these events tend to be Allies of the GLBT community, and I think it’s that group that gets the most out of these events because they don’t see it every day as the members involved with the center do,” Foster said.

Caleb Armstrong, animal science junior and vice president of LGBTQ Aggies, said events like this one offer a support system for people experiencing the journey of coming out.

“It’s important for members to experience other people’s stories and let them know who you are,” Armstrong says. “The good thing about this event is that it provides a safe space for this.”
The “Coming Out Monologues” will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday night at Rudder Theater.