Oct. 11 marks this year’s National Coming Out Day, a day to celebrate and support individuals in the LGBTQ+ community and to recognize the act of coming out. The day aims to highlight the stories of queer people sharing their true selves and to promote acceptance and love. 

“At the Pride Center and at (Colorado State University), we tend to call it Coming Into Queerness Day,” said Airi Bowden, a student affiliated with the Pride Resource Center on campus. “That’s, I think, to change the narrative from having to reveal yourself and being out of the ordinary into being something that’s welcomed and loved and more like you’re coming into something.”

“Coming out” is a term for queer people sharing their identity with the people around them. The act of coming out is something that can have a huge impact on a queer person. For many, sharing their identity with others involves taking a certain kind of risk as to how people will react.

“Learning about queerness and the strength it takes to come out — because it does require a lot of strength — is something I definitely think should be recognized because a negative reaction will impact you for the rest of your life,” said Enock Monanti, another student affiliated with the PRC.

“It’s a great opportunity to learn how to be an ally and how to react when people come out,” Bowden said. “A negative reaction to someone saying, ‘This is who I am,’ is probably the worst thing that you can do.”

In acknowledging the strength and bravery the act of coming out requires, it is important to recognize the queer individuals who have faced backlash or haven’t received love and acceptance.

“For (National Coming Out Day), it is a huge celebration, and we should be able to celebrate that, but we should also take a moment to reflect on the people who did come out and have been cut off from their entire family,” CSU first-year Tory Ramos said. “We should recognize that and give a moment to mourn because that’s what it really is: mourning that connection you used to have.” 

“It’s also important to acknowledge that there are people out there that are still in the closet because they didn’t have a good stable relationship with anyone around them that would accept them for who they are,” CSU sophomore Ash Brinker said. “So they’ve kind of hidden themselves and are forced to, you know, hide who they truly are. I think it’s important for us to pay attention to that as well.”

Coming out is not necessarily something that happens just once in a queer person’s life. The process varies from person to person as they go through life. 

“I think with queerness specifically, it’s not something that’s rigid and solid — like, you’re going to figure out who you are, and then, instantly, that’s who you are for the rest of your life,” Brinker said. “I think the concept that once you come out, that’s it is something that should be kind of disbanded. Identity in and of itself is very fluid and can be ever-changing based on who you are as a person.”

National Coming Out Day represents all of those stories of strength and honesty. It’s a time to celebrate queer people living their authentic life while also reminding all people, queer or not, to support others and to recognize the different experiences and identities within the LGBTQ+ community. 

“It’s good to have that day where we get to celebrate and acknowledge the journey of coming out and coming into queerness,” Monanti said.

Reach Hannah Parcells at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.