MRC Brings New Life to Nat’l Coming Out Week
By John Byrne

For some, it’s a time to come out of the closet. But for most, it’s an opportunity to celebrate non-heterosexual diversity, and to draw attention to the perils that perennially visit queer communities.
A slew of forums organized by the Multicultural Resource Center brought new life to Oberlin’s annual coming out week. This year, the MRC took a more visible role in bringing local activists to Oberlin.
“There’s more MRC-specific programming,” LGBT Community Coordinator Peter Meredith said. “In the past, activities were done by students.”
Coming out week is a national event, held annually in October, that seeks to heighten awareness of those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer or intersex.
Student Health and the MRC also teamed up to bring a workshop on sexual assault in queer communities to Oberlin. Carmen Lane, a Community Education coordinator at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, directed the event.
“We wanted people who are just coming out to learn about the underdiscussed topic of sexual assault and domestic violence in queer communities,” Meredith added.
Lane also led a workshop on black gay movements and their relationship to the LGBTQI movement. In addition to her work for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Lane works with BlackOut Unlimited, which bills itself as “Cleveland’s premier organization serving the African American same gender loving community.”
College Ombudsperson Yeworkwha Belachew also led a workshop Tuesday on coalition building in social justice movements. Several dozen students attended.
Representatives were on hand from various student of color organizations, including Abusua, La Alianza Latina and the Asian American Alliance, as well as those from other activist groups like the Not in Our Name campaign and Oberlin’s Peace Activist League.
Belachew gave a brief talk about her experiences as ombudsperson and on building coalitions, then told students to break off into groups. She then enjoined them to work together on a project — in real-time — which she hopes will come to fruition sometime next semester.
About 20 students showed up Wednesday afternoon for a coming out panel, where a diverse group students and staff told their personal coming out stories.
Meredith said that the MRC is always looking for new programming ideas. He said his door is always open.
“They should come in and speak to any of us,” he said.
The MRC can be visited online at www.oberlin.edu/~mrc.