National Coming Out Day

On National Coming Out Day 2005, NYU School of Medicine became the first medical school in the country to participate in a "Fine By Me" campaign. Check it out....

In 2002, Duke University had the #9 basketball team in the country, they were #11 in Men’s Lacrosse, and the had the 2nd fastest 50 yard sprinter in their division. Yet, at a school where rankings meant everything, there was only 1 list that year they were able to top: In 2002, Duke was ranked the #1 most homophobic school in the country.
When Lucas Schaefer, a senior at the time, heard the news, he feared that Duke’s new celebrity would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I knew that the more people thought we were homophobic, the less diverse the campus would become.” Schaefer told me during an interview from his Brooklyn apartment. “Even less gays, even more homophobia”.
One night over dinner, he was discussing the situation with his friends when they decided something had to be done. They realized something visible that students could do to show their support for the gay community would be a way to make it clear that they would not accept this ranking lying down. “We wondered if most people at Duke were really homophobic, or if that was just the perception.”
“We came up with the slogan (Gay? Fine by me.) because it was simple. People could wear it, people would know what it meant, anyone who wanted to could show their support,” Schaefer said. 10 days later, Lucas and his cohorts had given away 2,000 shirts, and people were wearing them.
In 2004, Duke University did not appear anywhere on the Princeton Review's homophobia list.
Schaefer has distributed over 25,000 shirts across the country, although not without some resistance. On April 19, Homewood-Flossmoor High School (Flossmoor, Ill.) had a FineByMe awareness day. A local church printed up its own shirts that read “Crimes Committed Against God”. The church’s shirts provoked other students to print up their own shirts with slogans such as, “Gay, burn in hell.” Similar incidents have occurred at a few other schools.
Despite drawbacks, Schaefer is optimistic about the project. “I will deem the campaign a complete success when our president wears one during a press conference,” Schaefer added. Until then, there are t-shirts to be printed.
For more info visit www.finebyme.org.