This weekend the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance will hold its first Dartmouth Pride Weekend for gay, lesbian and bisexual students and their allies and will display pride in their sexual orientation through participation in several organized events.
DRA advisor Bart Bingenheimer '94 said the DRA hopes to make Pride Weekend an annual event.
He said the purpose of Dartmouth Pride Weekend is to "socialize, have fun and generate some visibility."
But the DRA's efforts to generate visibility were partially thwarted Wednesday when a rainbow flag the group had put up that day in Food Court to celebrate Dartmouth Gay Pride Weekend was removed later that night, DRA member Stephen Borboroglu '97 said.
He said a student complained Wednesday night about the removal to Safety and Security. Borboroglu said the Safety and Security officer who arrived that night had removed the flag "because he did not know that you don't have to have permission of a dean" to hang objects inside buildings.
He said the administrators of a building decide what can be hung inside, and said he asked the managers of Food Court for permission.
"It's not really a situation," Borboroglu said. "The only situation is that a student complained to Safety and Security in the first place."
He said the flag was replaced in Food Court yesterday.
DRA Member Melanie Popper '99 said this weekend is "a basic educational opportunity for the campus."
"It is not an in-your-face political statement," Popper said. "We are just expressing pride."
Former DRA co-chair Herlena Harris '96 said the events of this weekend are "to celebrate queer liberty."
"It is nice to have a weekend set aside for gay, lesbian and bisexual students to know they can be proud of who they are," DRA member Mike Glatze '97 said.
But DRA chair Scott Reeder '96 wrote in an e-mail message, while many DRA members have worked hard to plan the events for Dartmouth Pride Weekend, he thinks the events will probably not be well-attended.
"For me, the weekend will be a success if there is even just one person out there who stops and thinks about how it is hurting them to stay in the closet or how horrible it is to judge someone completely on their sexual preference," he wrote.
Reeder wrote that he urges straight supporters to attend the weekend's events because they are "instrumental in getting closeted gays and lesbians to feel comfortable in primarily queer settings."
Bingenheimer said while Dartmouth Pride Weekend is similar to National Coming Out Week in the fall, it will be lower key.
In the fall, the DRA sponsored performances, speakers, a film and panels for students during National Coming Out Week, he said.
Members of the DRA and Straight Allies, a heterosexual group supportive of gay rights, shared a table in the Collis Center yesterday where they sold t-shirts and gave stickers, pins and information to students. They will have tables in Collis and at the Hopkins Center again today, Bingenheimer said.
He said during National Coming Out Week in the fall, members of the DRA distributed over 500 rainbow flag stickers within a couple of hours because so many people wanted them.
"It was powerful to see peers showing support," Bingenheimer said. "In the past, people have been hesitant to take things that say gay anything on them."
The DRA has planned several events for the weekend.
Friday evening there will be a barbecue on the Topliff deck, and Saturday night there will be a dance in Brace Commons, Popper said.
Popper said she expects a big turnout at the dance. "A gay dance on campus guarantees good music," she added.
Popper said there will be a poetry reading on Sunday by English Professor Peter Saccio titled "Gay Poetry: Raunchy and Romantic."
