During the annual Sexual Identity Week, the FUSION club promotes the goal of LGBT equality at Linfield.
Students across campus connected through activities such as tie-dyeing T-shirts and a same-sex mock wedding during Sexual Identity Week 2010.
The FUSION and Psych! clubs hosted Sexual Identity Week, a series of events focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, from April 12-16.
“It’s just a week where we spread awareness and promote equality,” junior FUSION Club President Jesse Aerni said. “We especially want to draw attention to problems like bullying and harassment.”
While Sexual Identity Week has been happening for more than five years, Aerni said the club tried to revamp this year’s week by creating better events and increasing publicity.
Sexual Identity Week received more than $400 of funding from the Associated Students of Linfield College this year, which Aerni said also contributed to the events improved.
More than 30 students kicked off the week by tie-dyeing T-shirts in Withnell Commons.
“It was an amazing turnout,” senior FUSION Club Vice President Breanna Adams said. “I noticed that people who couldn’t make it to the event wore tie-dyed shirts all day to support us, which was really cool to see.”
The week continued with a screening of the TV show “Glee” on April 13. More than 60 students gathered in Ice Auditorium to watch the show and enter drawings for a “Glee” poster, soundtrack and season DVD.
The next evening, a variety of students — some wearing tie-dyed shirts and others just stopping by to enjoy the company and food — enjoyed a barbecue outside Withnell Commons on April 14.
Almost 30 guests gathered in front of Walker Hall on April 15 for Adam’s and freshman Marissa Mark’s same-sex mock wedding. After the ceremony, guests blew clouds of bubbles around the couple before enjoying cake and dancing during the reception in the Fred Meyer Lounge.
“We tried to make the events more open and public this year,” Adams said. “In past years, the same-sex mock wedding had a small turnout because it was hidden back by Grover [Hall] or behind Dillin [Hall]. I think the week will make a bigger impact on students this year.”
The bride, Mark, said she was slightly nervous before the event because it was in the center of campus and in front of a crowd.
“Having the wedding be so public was kind of the point of the week,” Mark said. “Even though we are both straight, we were just modeling what should be normal and accepted.”
April 16 is the National Day of Silence, during which students may choose to remain silent for the entire day to take a stand against LGBT bullying. Aerni said that not talking for a day supports people who are harassed until they don’t feel comfortable talking about or revealing their sexual identities.
“We want to raise awareness of harassment and support people who get bullied so much that they feel the need to become silent,” he said.
Participants will break the silence that night in the FML with a dance party and a talk about the Day of Silence and personal reflections on sexual identity, Aerni said.
“We had a lot of different kinds of events this year because of the wide range of people in FUSION,” Aerni said. “There were both radical and conservative people planning the week, so we had to create events that would work for everyone.”
Adams said the club was pleased with the positive feedback the event received.
“You’d be amazed at how much approval we’ve gotten from unconventional places,” she said. “At the Activities Fair last fall, several churches from the area came up to our table just to chat and show support.”
Aerni said that the club plans to extend the events to surrounding communities and other colleges next year.
For more information about FUSION, contact Aerni at [email protected].
Joanna Peterson
Culture reporter Joanna Peterson can be reached at [email protected]
