The Rainbow Alliance, MCCC’s LGBTQ+ club, in partnership with the Student Government Association (SGA) held a pride walk on the West Windsor campus early afternoon on October 10 to honor National Coming Out Day by parading throughout campus and the cafeteria with rainbow flags, colorful clothing and banners.
Coming Out Day was co-founded by Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg and first celebrated on October 11, 1988. This LGBTQ+ annual observation is a well-recognized day to celebrate the courage to come out, raise awareness and provide support to community members.
Almost 20 students of diverse ethnicities, ages, genders and sexual orientations met at MCCC’s West parking lot making their way to the quad. Four students, including SGA’s President Mirian Lopez, held a long pastel rainbow ombre banner that included the club’s logo and the words “Love is Love.”
President of the Rainbow Alliance, Icyss Bracewell, who is transgender, developed the idea to honor Coming Out Day and sought support from SGA.
Bracewell said at the event, “I think the old Rainbow Alliance president was scared to do a lot of things, but me being here for a long time, I was like, we need to be out, and show people who we are.”
This was the first time the club has done a walk on campus and they say they plan to make it a tradition.
“I remember last semester they were closeted in the room (SC116 meeting room), so I got them out to do more things,” said Bracewell.
As the students got closer to the quad, they noticed the lack of students outside possibly due to the chilly weather.
Jayy Queen, a first-year student and member of the Rainbow Alliance, said to the group, “We should walk through the cafeteria real quick. Ain’t nobody outside.”
Although some participants appeared hesitant to enter the cafeteria, apparently not wanting to disturb classes or meetings, they ended up agreeing to take the parade inside.
Some students cheered on or waved at the group, while others neutrally observed and a few appeared unsettled but declined to share their thoughts.
A traditional part of Coming Out Day is acknowledging the hardships that the LGBTQ+ community faces by being their authentic selves.
Bracewell said, “As long as [the other students] respect us, and we respect them, we don’t have any problems here. We’re here, and we’re queer.”
Among those in the Student Center was Aloud Gamby, a second-year Computer Science major who said of the event, “It’s good. It’s normal. I wasn’t really scared or anything. Just another day at Mercer basically.”
Another student present, Valkyrie Eger, a queer second-year Liberal Arts major said, “I didn’t know there was some sort of event going on because I know pride month is June, but I thought it was nice, I thought it was cute.”
Rey Lopez, another transgender second-year Liberal Arts major and friend of Eger’s said, “It was kinda silly how they just bursted in and [Eger and I] didn’t know what was happening, so we were like yes, let’s go!”
Participants’ outfits included all manner of flashy, queer-inspired apparel including a rainbow glitter cowboy hat, a black spiked cropped leather jacket with red heart patterns, and a long purple sequined dress.
Many of the parade participants held mini rainbow flags. One student waved a pansexual flag and four students held protest signs such as one that read “TENNESSEE GODDAMN,” “Hate is the Issue, and Love is the Power.” The Tennessee sign referred to both Nina Simone’s song “Mississippi Godamm”–widely considered to be her first civil rights song–and the unfavorable conditions for LGBTQ+ people in the state which are explained in the Out Leadership Business Climate Index for 2024.
As the Rainbow Alliance students walked through campus they played music including, “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross and some students shouted phrases such as “Free the gays!” and “Let’s go, lesbians!”
SGA’s President Lopez said, “We thought it was a wonderful idea just to support our fellow club. We saw the opportunity to celebrate our diversity and contribute to the exclusivity of the campus.”
Rainbow Alliance meets biweekly every Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in SC 116 on the West Windsor Campus. Their Instagram is @mcccrainbow.
This article was produced as part of MCCC’s Community Reporting “J Lab” certificate program made possible by grant funding from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and The New School: Journalism + Design. For more information about the J Lab contact Program Director Prof. Holly Johnson at johnsonh@mccc.edu.
