This past Wednesday, October 11th 2023, was national Coming Out Day, a celebration to support all those in the LGBTQ+ community who “come out of the closet.” Dickinson has celebrated this holiday for many years with Out on Britton, a gathering of Dickinson’s clubs and local organizations on Britton Plaza for an afternoon of music, color, and community.
ALLARM always looks forward to attending and participated with our own activity table, ready with markers, watercolor paints and paper, and plenty of flags for inspiration. The goal was for attendees to create positive affirmation paintings and drawings for themselves or their friends. As in previous years, we also had a list of recommendations for affirmations, focusing on belonging and being comfortable in one’s environment and the world around them.
This year was another fantastic showing, with hundreds of students and some community members coming through the plaza over the course of the afternoon, filling the courtyard with joy and support for the queer members of our community. Students alternated between taking the affirmations they created for themselves and leaving them on the table for other people to read. They ranged from goofy, to personally significant, to science-y, but each one was made with a smile.
Out on Britton might not seem like the usual scene for a science organization like ALLARM, but it exemplifies a major part of our work: community. ALLARM is, as our acronym says, an alliance, made up of people that care about their environment and put in hard work towards protecting it. We are able to do what we do because of the community members that rally together and push for progress. Ensuring an equitable, inclusive space is a priority for ALLARM. By showing up to events like Out on Britton, ALLARM seeks to showcase our support for all members of our community. It’s also a great chance for more people to learn about ALLARM, and encourage more people from marginalized groups to get involved and find a place in the scientific community!
Happy Coming Out Day from everyone at ALLARM!
