Strength of Solidarity: Sookmyung Rainbow Week

On October 10 to 12, the wave of National Coming Out Day (NCOD) arrived at Sookmyung Women's University in the form of a festival titled ‘Sookmyung Rainbow Week’.  The event was arranged for the purpose of visualizing sexual minorities at Sookmyung Women's University.  Representative for Sookmyung Rainbow Week, Shin Jukyeong, from the School of English Language & Literature '15 said, “One of the reasons for the various hate expressed on campus comes from misunderstanding that there are no sexual minorities on campus; that is, people don’t realize that the person right next to them might be a suffering as a discriminated-against minority.  It is our hope that the event opens all Sookmyungians to the awareness that we are one unified world.”  Sookmyung Rainbow Week was an independent event supported not by one sole volunteer, university club or community but by fellow students wanting to spread the message of the festival.  Various contents were presented during the event on campus such details of the Safety Pin sharing campaign, an exhibition named ‘Beyond the Wardrobe’ about the tales of sexual minority groups and Ally, a witty relay banner of various university clubs’ banners intertwined together as one.  Sin Jihye, Department of Public Relations & Advertising ’17, said “The campaign was a step towards freedom for sexual minorities to express their sexuality without fear of blame.  Moreover, the event made all participants feel at ease as they joined the various events."  Myungshin Building 317 also screened the fi lm ‘Rebellious You’ at 5 p.m. on October 12.  The relay banner for the event’s activities became the rainbow that showed the power of Sookmyungians’ banding together.