Celebrating coming out

Coming out is more popular than ever.

In honor of National Coming Out Day on Thursday, Oct. 11, Portland State’s Queer Resource Center has launched the Outlist, now in its third year.

The Outlist is a list of people who have identified themselves as supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex community—some as one or more of the aforementioned, and others as allies of the underrepresented group.

The Outlist will be unveiled in the Park Blocks on NCOD as part of the Portland State of Mind events.
Last year, over 1,100 members of the PSU community signed the list, doubling the rate of participation from the list’s first year in 2010. As of last week, over 1,200 people had signed the list.

“Our list is too large to print in a school newspaper,” Cat McGraw, coordinator at the QRC, said with pride.

Many universities have had Outlists in existence for much longer than PSU, and McGraw said she saw the positive effects of an Outlist firsthand when she worked for the University of Oregon.

In order to sign the Outlist, students, faculty, staff and alumni had to type their name and their department, major or job title. Participants were also given the option to identify where they fall on the queer spectrum by checking a box.

While no one else sees the raw data of that identification from the Outlist’s form, McGraw said it is “incredibly empowering” for people to have the ability to identify themselves.

McGraw also emphasized that NCOD offers members of Portland State’s LGBTQ community an opportunity to rally together and kick off the school year.

“It’s the first thing that queer students can organize around,” McGraw said. “It’s a really neat way to get people talking to each other and to gather support for community.”

Beyond the PSU campus, Logan Lynn, the public relations and innovations manager at Q Center, a nonprofit that supports Portland’s LGBTQ community, voiced approval for the Outlist.

“Any kind of visibility or outreach is an important part of the landscape of keeping queer people safe,” Lynn said. He also described NCOD as “an ally-building opportunity” and a way to provide a safe space for people to come out.

Sabrina McCoy, a member of Portland State’s QRC staff and the designer of this year’s Outlist, had kind words to say about her second year on the list.

“It’s an incredibly uplifting experience to see people on this campus to be proud of who they are and proud to be identified,” McCoy said. “I’m proud to be a part of the QRC and the Outlist.”

The complete Outlist is viewable online as a publication through the Office of Academic Affairs website. The list will also be printed on a poster and hung in the QRC office.