Alliance sponsors 10th annual LGBT Awareness Week celebration

Despite less-than-hospitable temperatures Monday night, students and supporters brave enough to venture into the chill were treated to a rousing arch sing organized by the Princeton Pride Alliance as a lively kickoff to this year's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Awareness Week.

Blair Arch was alive with song well into the night as the voices of various student groups — such as Shere Khan, The Roaring 20 and The Firehazards — joined with those of the New Jersey Gay Men's Choir in celebration and anticipation of this week's events.

The Pride Alliance, which began in 1972 as the Gay Alliance of Princeton and was later renamed the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance, is now a large and widely influential group with the means to coordinate a multi-faceted week-long event.

This year's Awareness Week — the 10th of its kind at the University — runs from Oct. 8 to Oct. 14 and is scheduled to coincide with National Coming Out Day.

The events planned for this week are geared primarily toward promoting greater understanding of gay and lesbian individuals in the student population, but are also opportunities for students of any sexuality to show support for their LGBT classmates and become involved as members of the alliance.

In addition to the opening arch sing, Awareness Week boasts a wide range of activities, including Gay Jeans Day yesterday, a "Coming Out Stories" discussion today and a Queer Indy Film Night tomorrow. These activities are specifically designed to unite gay and lesbian students with other students and members of the faculty and administration.

"This is a great way to raise awareness toward different people at Princeton," Pride Alliance publicist Katherine Schweighofer '01 said.

One of the week's most popular activities is the Friday night festivities at Terrace, this year a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" theme dance. The Friday night event typically draws students from a variety of backgrounds and sexual orientations, according to Schweighofer.

Daniel Weitz '01, co-president of the Pride Alliance and an organizer of Awareness Week, said he is particularly excited about the Student Ally Project reception set to take place Friday night.

The original Ally Project — which was designed to educate the University staff and faculty about issues gay and lesbian individuals face in a college environment — expanded this year to include students as well.

The project encourages students who support alternative lifestyles to place identifying stickers and pins on their message boards and backpacks as a way of indicating that support to others.

"As a result of this," Weitz said, "straight students can visibly demonstrate that they are allies to Princeton's LGBT community."

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Weitz said he hopes the Student Ally Project will create a sense of security between gay and lesbian students and their heterosexual peers.

Weitz also attributes the success of Awareness Week to the fact that he has been able to garner the support of a number of high-profile University administrators.

Dean of Religious Life Joseph Williamson and Women's Center director Susan Overton are, according to Weitz, "not only cosponsors [of Awareness Week] but also important allies."

Over the years, both Weitz and Schweighofer have seen the number of students and faculty members supporting the Pride Alliance — and its predecessor, the LGBA — grow exponentially.

Both said they believed this increased support is connected to overwhelmingly positive responses to campus-wide initiatives such as Awareness Week, as well to the alliance's ongoing efforts to educate members of the University community.

Weitz said, however, that he also suspects the recent trend toward accepting gays and lesbians is a result of what he calls the " 'Will & Grace' effect."

Put simply, because homosexuality seems to have saturated the popular media — especially prime time television — public aversion to alternative lifestyles has been significantly reduced.

To ensure that the spirit of Awareness Week continues well beyond these next few days, Weitz said he and other alliance members will continue to stress the importance of actively cultivating acceptance of the gay and lesbian community at Princeton.