Emerson resident assistants will be hosting a National Coming Out Day Celebration Oct. 17 from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Little Building basement.

The National Coming Out Day Celebration is a collaboration among 14 resident assistants and various organizations on campus, including Emerson Poetry Project, Flawless Brown, Emerson Debate Team, Intercultural Student Affairs, and Theyta—an organization for trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming students. The event is open to students, staff and faculty and will have free food catered from Dona Habana and an open mic event.

Chastity Bowick, executive director for the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, will be the main speaker for the event and will speak between 7:30 to 8 p.m. 

There will be a quiet and sensory-friendly space in the SPC Black Box Theater for students who would like to step out and take a break.

August Fowle, Piano Row resident assistant and event organizer, said the event is an opportunity for attendees to come together as a community and support each other.

“More importantly than it being National Coming Out Day, it’s a really great chance to be in community with other queer people and to celebrate the fact that we’re out here living as queer people and doing our thing,” Fowle said. 

To sign up for the open mic, click here. The deadline to sign up for the open mic is Sunday at 11:59 p.m.