[note] An Open Letter to the UMLS Student Body

Written by our PAC Chair, Steve.

Dear Colleagues,

Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11 marks the eighteenth anniversary of the March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights, during which over a half a million people gathered in support of providing equality under the law to people of all sexual orientations.

Since 1988, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities nationwide have commemorated this historic event by organizing National Coming Out Day, which now serves as a reminder that revealing one’s sexual orientation openly is both an arduous and continuous process. The act of coming out is not completed in a single day; it is a lifelong process that requires LGBT people to make frequent decisions about whether to come out to someone new. Coming out decisions must be made in the workplace, with a health care provider, in a place of worship, and even with classmates and professors. Coming out is a daily endeavor.

Equally important is recognizing that National Coming Out Day is also meant to persuade people to come out as supportive, accepting straight allies of the LGBT community. Significant assistance from straight allies is a necessity in the fight for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Outlaws encourages everyone to stop by the table outside of Hutchins Hall Room 100 tomorrow between 11:15 and 1:15 to pick up information about coming out and how to be an effective ally to the queer community. Buttons and other materials will also be distributed so that Michigan Law School can visibly display their support for the queer community, a group which remains - eighteen years after the first National Coming Out Day - subject to discrimination under local, state, and federal law.

Please come out and show your support.

Sincerely,

UMLS Outlaws
www.outlaws.org