Hampton Roads History – Page 2 – ODU Special Collections Blog

By Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant

October is National Gay and Lesbian History Month and October 11 is National Coming Out Day (NCOD).

National Coming Out Day has been an ODU tradition for LGBT folks on campus since 1989. In terms of ODU traditions, that’s a pretty long time. While founded as a Division of the College of William and Mary in Norfolk in 1930, ODU didn’t become a full-fledged university until 1969. It really hasn’t been until the last decade or two that ODU started thinking in terms of what traditions we have to offer, so an annual event celebrated at ODU since 1989… well in ODU terms that’s a pretty long time.

National Coming Out Day grew out of a February 1988 conference held in Virginia. Attending this event were approximately 200 LGBT leaders from across the United States. The day was envisioned as a way to carry forward the energy and enthusiasm from the October 11, 1987 Lesbian and Gay March on Washington. This march drew 600,000 people in a time when it was harder for LGBT folks to be open about their sexuality.

The purpose of National Coming Out Day is to encourage LGBT folks to “take the next step” in their coming out process – to push their boundaries, and to be truthful and open – but to do so in a way that is safe for them. This next step can be something private such as telling a family member or friend, or something public like being visible as an LGBT person in one’s community. National Coming Out Day recognized that coming out is often a lifelong process for LGBT individuals.

The purpose of the event is also to foster LGBT visibility. Unlike Gay Pride Day, which is all about celebrating the LGBT community, National Coming Out Day has been about LGBT folks letting the community at large know they exist and who they are. Unlike many marginalized communities, it isn’t always obvious who is LGBT. Many people don’t know that they know someone who is LGBT, and many LGBT folks remain in the closet for fear of harassment, job discrimination, or ridicule from friends and family. This was even more the case in the late 1980s when National Coming Out Day was founded than it is today. The cost of being invisible is that it fosters misunderstanding, stereotypes, and bigotry. Those who know someone who is LGBT are also more likely to support LGBT rights issues.

The first ever National Coming Out Day was held on October 11, 1988. It was organized by Jean O’Leary of the National Gay Rights Advocates and by Robert Eichberg founder of a personal growth workshop called “Experience Weekend.” The first National Coming Out Day was covered in both mainstream and LGBT publications. National publications providing coverage included USA Today, CNN, and NPR. Oprah Winfrey dedicated segments of her show that day to coming out.

After 1988, National Coming Out Day became its own organization to promote the annual event, to keep track of these events across the country, and to provide coming out resources. In 1990, the NCOD organization merged with the Human Rights Campaign to become the National Coming Out Day Project.

The ODU Gay and Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) was on board for the second ever National Coming Out Day on October 11, 1989. The GLSU officially started meeting as a student organization on campus earlier that year in the Spring semester. This first National Coming Out Day Social at ODU was held in the Suffolk Room in Webb Center from 3:30-5:30pm. The event included refreshments, discussion, and coming out resources. During the first decade and possibly much longer, this annual social at ODU was held in Webb Center. In 1990, the GLSU extended an invitation to folks from other local colleges and universities, as well as a local LGBT youth group, to attend. Music was also added to the line-up. In 1991, the event included the film “On Being Gay.” A National Coming Out Day exhibit was displayed in front of the ODU Bookstore that year. At the time, the bookstore was located in Webb Center. The display included LGBT books and buttons, as well as an official National Coming Out Day poster and t-shirt. In 1992, National Coming Out Day included a showing of the film “Since Stonewall.” In 1999, the film “Working with Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Students” was shown and a “Reflections Gallery” was created in Webb Center. The gallery was “A chance to view a collection of written thoughts, feelings, and experiences from the Old Dominion Community about gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. “

Today as LGBT people are more accepted by society, National Coming Out Day has come to be a day of celebration for the LGBT community. While largely a U.S. holiday, it is also celebrated internationally in Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

National Coming Out Day has become one of many events held at ODU and across the U.S. in conjunction with LGBT History Month. LGBT History Month was founded in 1994 by a Missouri high school history teacher named Rodney Wilson. The month is celebrated in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day. LGBT History Month celebrates the contributions of LGBT individuals, organizations, and community to history and society, as well as the LGBT struggle for civil rights.

“Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact, everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes.”
– Robert Eichberg, 1993

References:

“ODU gay group to hold social”, Our Own Community Press, October 1989, p. 7.

“Members of Old Dominion University’s Gay and Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) display their banner and a National Coming Out Day Poster (photo with caption)”, Our Own Community Press, November 1989. p. 17.

“The ODU GLSU Invites You! National Coming Out Day Social (advertisement), Our Own Community Press, October 1990, p. 6.

“October 11 is third annual National Coming Out Day”, Our Own Community Press, October 1990, p. 22.

“October 11 – Norfolk: Coming Out Day Social, Old Dominion University Gay and Lesbian Student Union (calendar listing)”, Our Own Community Press, October 1991, p. 21.

“October 8 – Norfolk: National Coming Out Day Social, ODU GLSU (calendar listing)”, Our Own Community Press, October 1992, p. 15.

“National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11”, Our Own Community Press, October 1993, p. 2.

National Coming Out Day Social (flyer), Box 2, Folder 10, Old Dominion University Gay and Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

By Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant

This is a continuation of my blog posts referencing Our Own Community Press, a Virginia LGBTQ+ community newspaper which ran from 1976 to 1998.

With the Fall semester starting, I thought about the timeless “What I did on my summer vacation” essay that so many of us were asked to write upon returning to school. With so many summer activities and vacations cancelled this summer due to the current pandemic, I thought I would highlight what LGBT folks did for summer vacations in the 1990s. While many LGBT folks did the same things as everyone else – such as visiting the beach, going on cruises, or enjoying theme parks – there are LGBT specific things that are mentioned or advertised in Our Own Community Press so I thought I would highlight some of these.

One did not need to travel far to find summer activities such as sports, recreational clubs, conferences and gatherings, festivals, or other events catering to the LGBT community. Local LGBT sports teams, clubs, and activities included the Lambda Wheelers, an LGBT bicycling group; the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Softball Association; volleyball tournaments at Stockley Gardens and Northside Park in Norfolk; and the Mid-Atlantic Bowling League. Other recreational activities included canoeing, hiking, rollerblading, women’s golf, and even skydiving.

Local summer benefits included pool parties sponsored by the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce (TACT) and the AIDSCARE Sunset Sprint Music Festival held at Ocean View Beach Park in June 1997. Some LGBT folks attended the biannual Stockley Gardens Art Festival held each May.

Local cruises on the Elizabeth River were popular. The Mandamus Society, an LGBT social group, held an annual cruise on the Carrie-B during the 90s. At least one year, there was an LGBT cruise on the Spirit of Norfolk too. While “Gay Days” at Busch Gardens had not yet become a thing, the first “Gay Days” at King’s Dominion was held in July 1997. “Gay Days” at Disney World in Florida began in the summer of 1991.

Beach vacations were also quite popular. Virginia Beach had its very own “Gay Beach Resort.” The Coral Sand Motel located on Pacific Avenue catered to LGBT clientele. The Outer Banks provided nearby beach getaways for LGBT folks. Rehoboth Beach in Delaware was also a popular choice. The Mandamus Society and Dignity, an LGBT Catholic group, both planned trips there in the 1990s. Our Own contains advertisements for Rehoboth Beach Resorts.

LGBT conferences and gatherings ranged from the serious to the fun. Many catered to diverse populations within the LGBT community. Serious conferences included the annual Lesbian and Gay Health Conference and AIDS Forum; the Southeast Lesbian / Gay Conference in July 1991; the International Lesbian & Gay Conference in Acapulco in 1991; and a Lesbian Writer’s conference in 1992.

Fun favorites included many women’s festivals and gatherings such as the Richmond Women’s Festival in 1990; the Roanoke Valley Women’s Festival in 1991, an annual East Coast Lesbian Festival; and WomenFest in Key West, FL in 1997. Regular women’s festivals were held at Twin Oaks campground in Luisa, Virginia and the INTOUCH women’s campground in Kent’s Store, Virginia. Music festivals were especially popular among Lesbians. These festivals included the Northeast Women’s Musical Retreat; the annual Virginia Women’s Music Festival held at INTOUCH; and the annual Rhythm Fest Women’s Music, Art, and Politics Festival held at Lookout Mountain in Georgia. Some men held camping gatherings too. These include the annual Gay Spirit Visions Conference in Highlands, NC and a men’s gathering held at Twin Oaks in 1993. Women’s and men’s gatherings sometimes highlighted LGBT-affirming alternative spiritual beliefs including New Age, Pagan, and Earth-based spirituality.

Film festivals were also popular among LGBT folks. Among these were the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival the summer of 1997 and Outfest, an annual gay and lesbian film festival held in Los Angeles.

Many conferences highlighted the diversity among LGBT folks – the Golden Threads Lesbian Celebration for Lesbians over age 50 in 1990; the National Gay Young Adults Conference also in 1990; a 1990 gathering of North and South American Native American LGBT folks; a 1996 conference and AIDS institute for gay men of color; and an annual “Women Celebrating Our Diversity” Gathering at Twin Oaks Campground. Gay geeks weren’t left out as the Gaylaxicon science fiction convention, which was founded in 1988, continued throughout the 1990s and beyond.

Other big events of the 1990s included the Gay Games, an Olympic style event for LGBT athletes. The Gay Games started in 1982 and continues to this day. In the 1990s, the event was held in 1990, 1994, and 1998. Many LGBT folks also attended the 1996 International Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA. The Atlantic States Gay Rodeo is mentioned in Our Own articles for 1996 and 1997. Many LGBT folks attended the GALA performing arts festival held in Tampa, FL in 1996. Maya Angelou was a keynote speaker at the event.

The 1990s were a great time for LGBT vacation packages. In the 1990s the travel industry took note of a perceived “disposable income” within the LGBT community. The idea is that many LGBT professional couples have extra income that isn’t going toward raising children that they can spend on leisure instead. While this myth persists even today, and there are many affluent people in the LGBT community, there are also many LGBT folks who aren’t especially wealthy or have dependents – LGBT parents (notably Lesbian mothers), LGBT folks from low income communities, and LGBT folks who have met with job discrimination. During the 1990s the LGBT travel industry flourished. Companies such as Toto Tours and Alyson Adventures offered tours, cruises, and destinations specifically for LGBT travelers. Sometimes there were separate women’s and men’s vacations, and other times the events were mixed. Local travel agencies such as Moore Travel (Norfolk), UNIGLOBE ITA Travel (Norfolk), and Four Seasons Travel (Williamsburg) arranged LGBT vacation packages. Bed and breakfasts and private resorts catering to LGBT folks offered options for those looking for smaller, low-key vacations.

LGBT travel magazines and guides promoted the LGBT travel industry. Such publications included magazines like Our World and Out and About; global guides such as Damron’s many guides, Ferrari’s Places of Interest: Worldwide Gay & Lesbian Guide, and Women Going Places 1993/94: A Women’s Complete Guide to International Travel; and city specific guides like Betty & Pansy’s Severe Queer Review of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.: An Alternative Guide For Those Who Don’t Necessarily Travel the Straight and Narrow.

So, while most of us are hoping that 2021 will be a better time than 2020 for joining in recreational activities or going on vacations, we can always look back at what folks did for fun in the 1990s. Perhaps looking through the articles, advertisements, and event listings in Our Own will provide you with nostalgia for the days when we could go out without masks and social distancing. Better yet, it might give you an idea for something to do when this pandemic is over.

Archived issues of Our Own Community Press are available digitally at: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown

Category: Hampton Roads History

National Coming Out Day an ODU LGBT+ Tradition

How LGBTQ+ Folks Spent Summer Vacations in the 1990s