by R.J. Beaumia
ANN ARBOR – There was a beautiful blond guy in a tight athletic tee dancing, bounding really, in the middle of Fourth Avenue in Ann Arbor last Saturday at OutFest. He kept this up for over an hour, and when he left the other dancers he went out into the night like a split atom.
This year's OutFest probably had that effect on most of the people there. It was really more of an energy source than a festival.
Now in its tenth year, OutFest is a celebration of National Coming Out Day that raises funds for the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, an organization serving the LGBT community and its supporters in Washtenaw county.
The momentum for a really successful event comes from good planning, and by the looks of the happy crowds coming and going throughout the evening at OutFest it was apparent that the organizers were on top of their game.
Bethany Schultz, chairwoman of the OutFest steering committee, seemed to be everywhere at once making sure things went smoothly and on schedule.
Taking a quick breath between events, she said, "Everything's great. We had a really wonderful steering committee."
She said she was pleased with the crowd, which she estimated as "easily over 1,000 people."
"It's really great to see all the young people and families," Schultz said.
She said that the committee doesn't know at this time how much money was made at this year's event, but that the silent auction alone took in over $2,000. According to one source, in 2004 OutFest took in nearly $20,000.
The festival began at 6 p.m. when Fourth Avenue between Catherine and Kingsley Streets in the Kerrytown area was blocked to through traffic while the event took place in Braun Court and across the street at Farmer's Market.
Over at Farmer's Market there was a main stage and music from (the) fundamentalists, Out Loud Chorus, Chrome Mali, and the Jamie Register Band, as well as information booths for the Michigan Stonewall Democrats, the Triangle Foundation, TransGender Michigan, and many others.
At 10 p.m. Fourth Avenue became a dance floor courtesy of the Necto and its DJ and was a fitting crescendo to celebrate coming out and taking part in the community.
Jeremy Merklinger, president of WRAP, said OutFest is a great way to show that coming out is important for every one of us as individuals because it helps put a face on the LGBT community for friends, family, and co-workers. "It's hard to hate people you know," he said.
Bethany Schultz said exposure of LGBT people to the outside community can only work in our favor. "You don't grow a movement without allies and friends," she said.
Festival attendee Tim Cramer of Westland said that OutFest "can bring everyone together. We can get some equality out of this."
Marc Florek of Clinton Township said he was there to see (the) fundamentalists, but that he also felt OutFest fosters a sense of real community. "It's a good meeting place to express your emotions. It's good to be around people who are accepting."
National Coming Out Day is celebrated each year on Oct. 11 which coincides with the date of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, "The first National Coming Out Day was celebrated with events in 18 states, and national media attention including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, USA Today and National Public Radio."
NCOD merged with HRC in 1993 and HRC administers the National Coming Out Project year round. In 1997 the project brought on board its first straight spokesperson, Betty DeGeneres, mother of Ellen DeGeneres.
"The fact that I'm a mom advocating equal rights for my daughter and her partner underscores the point that ending discrimination based on sexual orientation is not just important to gay people, it's important to their families and the people who love them," Betty DeGeneres told HRC Quarterly in 1997.
The theme of the 2005 Coming Out Project is "Talk About It."
"Every single time we talk about our lives as GLBT Americans, we are another step closer to equality," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "Each word helps build bridges that change hearts and minds — and eventually our laws."
According to HRC, a poll of LGBT Americans last year showed that startling amounts of people not only conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity from people in their lives, but many people who consider themselves to be "out" also refrain from speaking to others about LGBT issues. Among the findings of the poll: only 3 percent of members of the LGBT community are out to their doctors, and less than half are out to their bosses at work.
"Obviously, coming out for the first time is important for leading a whole and complete life, but we also want to help encourage and empower people to talk openly about their lives each and every day," said Mark Shields, director of the Coming Out Project.
The Coming Out Project is particularly focusing on supportive straight people and working to give them resources and opportunities to voice their support for equality.
"We will only achieve equality by growing the number of people who stand with us," said Shields. "Every time a straight person speaks out against an anti-gay joke, or joins a gay-straight alliance, they are having a coming out experience. We want to honor that, and make sure it happens more often."
