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Questioning Established Sexual Taboos (QuEST) will begin its “Gay? Fine By Me” campaign Monday, Oct. 23, to promote awareness and acceptance of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community at Lafayette. The campaign will be a campus wide t-shirt project to recognize the unity and support for the gay/straight alliance.
Students at Lafayette will be able to show their support for the campaign and the GLBT community by picking up a free t-shirt. Shirts will be available Oct. 23-27 during lunch in the Farinon Atrium.
The week will culminate in a gathering 12:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, where everyone wearing a “Gay? Fine By Me” campaign t-shirt will come to the quad for a group photo and speak-out.
Jennifer Aranda ’07 (Paramus, N.J.), vice president of QuEST and an English and women’s studies double major, believes that events such as this are necessary on campus.
“We are hoping to unify the campus and show everyone that the GLBT community is accepted here and acts of homophobia will not be taken lightly,” she says.
Initially, the “Gay? Fine By Me” t-shirt campaign began at Duke University in 2003, in response to what many students believed to be a homophobic campus. In order to change that perception, a group decided to organize a visual display of anti-homophobia through t-shirts, which were handed out to the community at large. After the short period of 10 days, 2,000 members of the Duke community were wearing the message that the GLBT community is accepted on their campus.
Since its official organization in 1999, QuEST has dedicated itself to raising awareness and increasing tolerance of GLBT issues. Its activities, events, and discussion forums have earned it campus-wide recognition.
In 2004, QuEST received the Aaron O. Hoff Award for Outstanding Cultural or Religious Group, given to the group whose performance or programs have made an exceptional contribution to the cultural environment at Lafayette in terms of opportunities for increased cultural appreciation, awareness, tolerance, or personal/spiritual growth.
Each academic year, QuEST organizes special events, activities, and forums for the campus community as a means of bringing students closer together and encouraging an open and supportive environment.