Rainbow Alliance hopes to not only make it easier for people to come out, but for those… Rainbow Alliance hopes to not only make it easier for people to come out, but for those students’ friends and family to support them.

Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance held its first Proud to be an Ally event Wednesday night at Posvar Hall.

They directed the event at the allied, people who support those in the LGBTQ community, and gave them a chance to speak about their experiences. People could also speak about how support from an ally friend helped them make their decision to come out.

“It’s not just straight people, but anybody even within the community that gives their support,” Rainbow Alliance Vice President Julia Wester said.

James Weaver, president of Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance, said this is the first event they have sponsored that celebrates the allied community.

Rainbow Alliance held an event in the fall called Speak Out where people could talk about their experiences of coming out, he said. The Alliance decided that this term they could have an event that focused on the people that give their support to the community, the president said.

The first few speakers signed up to share their stories to the 20-person crowd, but as the night went on, many more stood up to give their stories. Though the stories were often diverse, many students recalled times when their friends and family gave help and support.

“My senior year of high school, I planned to go to the prom with my boyfriend, except he lived more than two hours away,” student Adam Dobson said. “But our friends pulled together, taking turns driving along the way to get me to the prom, and we ended up being the first gay couple ever at his school’s prom.”

However, many straight allies, such as Dominique Dabecco, also recalled how important the LGBTQ members in their lives are.

“If I weren’t an ally, I wouldn’t have any friends,” Dabecco said jokingly. “All of my life, I’ve been surrounded by people in my family and my friends that are gay.”

Some had an especially solemn tone, such as Gillian Schuyler’s story about how a beloved family friend died of AIDS from a heroin addiction after facing a lack of support from those around him.

“I knew I had to be an ally, I decided I would never let my generation make the same mistakes that led to [my friend]’s death,” Schuyler said.

Sociology professor Suzanna Crage said support is crucial for LGBTQ individuals who struggle with the thought of coming out.

“For many people, coming out threatens every relationship, because they don’t know how their family or friends will react,” Crage said. “You don’t have to look at very deep into our culture to see that sometimes those fears aren’t entirely irrational.”

Crage referred Ricky Martin’s recent coming out as an especially pertinent example.

His statement, according to the Huffington Post, read:

“Many people told me: ‘Ricky it’s not important,’ ‘it’s not worth it,’ ‘all the years you’ve worked and everything you’ve built will collapse,’ ‘many people in the world are not ready to accept your truth, your reality, your nature.’ Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage.”

Crage said this is an example of how important other people’s opinions can be for people considering coming out.

“It’s somewhat different because Martin is a celebrity and worries of public opinion do play a part, but it underscores how important the opinion of the people around you can have,” Crage said.

Crage recalled the origins of pride week, and the first gay pride parades.

“What was brilliant with the idea of the parade was that it allowed people to show that there was a community and an atmosphere of acceptance. It made it a lot easier for people to come out, and people started jumping and making the parade bigger as it went on,” Crage said, “This event [Proud to be an Ally] proves that we are still trying to make it easier for people to come out.”