Local 12: President of UC LGBTQ+ organization discusses National Coming Out Day

“We don’t recognize that many students come to college looking to live as themselves, so what we struggle with in college is creating that space for students to actually feel like they can be themselves and find their chosen families,” said Niese.

National Coming Out Week, an annual celebration created by PaL, has events each day through Friday. Tuesday brings "Loud and Proud on the Lawn" at Sigma Sigma Commons, which features LGBTQ+ vendors, food and a drag performance. Wednesday is the "PaL Partner Panel," in which LGBTQ+ employees and executives from the Cincinnati area will speak about their workplace experiences in a virtual event. 

The celebration of National Coming Out Week coincides with PaL’s fundraising drive for the Pride at Lindner and Scholarship Fund, a first-of-its-kind scholarship endowment at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business. The campaign has raised nearly a third of its initial $10,000 goal in this week alone.

Watch Niese’s interview on Local 12.

Featured image: Pride at Lindner President/Founder Andrew Niese. Screenshot courtesy of Local 12 video.