Five panelists sat in front of the room to share their stories and experiences at Keene State College’s second annual Coming Out Panel organized by Residential Life and KSC Pride held Monday, April 14.
According to KSC Residential Hall Director Megan Barbato the panel included KSC Academic Technology Librarian Irene McGarrity, KSC Staff Writer/Editor Lucy Webb, and KSC students Kal Rasku, Heather Aldrich and Jacob Knehr.
The panelists answered questions and participated in room-wide discussions.
KSC junior Tim Kehoe said he liked the event because it allowed him to hear other people’s experiences of coming out and compare them to his own.
“It is a great experience in knowing how your fellow peers feel and what they went through during a very transitional period [of coming out],” Kehoe said.
Alex Pacifico, a KSC sophomore said, “I came to the event not only as an RA but because I enjoy listening to people speak from the LGBTQ community, being a member of it here at Keene. I enjoy listening to students and faculty’s journey through coming out and how they handle it all today.” Pacifico continued, “For next year [the goal should be] to offset the perfect painted picture. We need someone to speak about a more negative story so that Keene students can see both the positives and negatives of the LBGTQ community and how people treat members of the community.”
KSC senior Justin Smith added similar thoughts about the positivity of the event. “I think, in terms of the problems with homophobia on this campus and the frequency of hearing or seeing people targeted, you know — whether it is sexual orientation or because of how they look, what they do, or what they wear, anything — I think that I would have wanted to hear more negative experiences that people have on this campus — because I don’t think we’re perfect,” Smith said.
Smith continued, “I don’t think that we have open acceptance on a large scale. I thought this program was great at inspiring and creating a safe space, identifying different ways and tips for people who might have not come out yet or might have not made their orientation public. While at the same time I want to know what are some of the most frequent ways people are targeted on this campus — what we have to address to make this campus better and more accepting on the large scale.”
Pacifico commented on the success of the panel and said, “I went last year to this event as well and I think that both years were fantastic. It’s interesting hearing everyone’s individual journey and story.”
Smith said, “I think that a panel talking about those who have different sexual orientations other than, say, heterosexual and talking about their experiences can help others on campus that might struggle with their own coming out or their own experiences. I think that these kind of panels are very few, unfortunately, programs that are held on campus.”
Smith also said he wants people to, “be aware of and maybe try to get involved with, more of the organizations and events here on campus.”
Smith concluded, “We have a KSC Pride group and I know that one of the common misconceptions is that you have to be not heterosexual to be in Pride, and that’s not true. You don’t. One of the big things in this panel that was talked about, and something that I think about needs to be talked about a lot more, is straight allies.”
Nicole Carrobis can be contacted at nicole.carrobis@ksc.keene.edu