Imagine this: As a rainbow colored Volkswagen comes cruising down the street you notice the word “Fagbug” printed in bold becomes visible on the side of the beetle. This car belongs to director and activist, Erin Davies.

Davies was previously a victim of a hate crime when someone had vandalized her car because of her rainbow sticker on the back of it. The phrases “Fag” and “U R gay” were spray painted onto her car.

While she was initially embarrassed and shocked by the defacement of her vehicle, Davies saw this as an opportunity. She halted her studies and took a 58 day trip across the United States and Canada, all of which she documented for her film, “Fagbug”.

“I didn’t feel like I was the problem. I felt like homophobia was the problem and so I decided to externalize it instead of internalize.” She said. Since then, Davies has given her once grey car a new look and has been using it to spread a message of acceptance from state to state.

“I went to a high school in Georgia which is a part of the Bible belt.” Said Abby Anderson, a sophomore student studying elementary education here at AACC.”It was not very inclusive or open. I think that it is absolutely awesome that there is someone like Erin Davies who is an activist for the LGBTQ community. An inclusive event, like this, for all students. A lot of kids don’t feel apart because they are in the LGBTQ so an event like this makes them feel a little bit more comfortable.”

In a world, where “coming out” is not a “normal” concept, Coming out Week can help ease the pressure of those coming out and help them be truer to themselves. One of the coordinators, Richard Otten, professor of English, American studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies here at AACC explained that nationally, it is actually Coming out Day which fell on Saturday Oct. 11. His team realized that most AACC students attend school throughout the week and so they decided to make the day a week of fun for students.

Otten explained that sexuality is an “unexamined problem.” He believed it needed to be addressed in order to create “an environment in which it becomes a welcoming community and a good learning environment. If people don’t feel comfortable then they typically won’t be open.”

On October 8th, Erin Davies was in the flesh with her famous Fagbug to kick off the upcoming Anne Arundel Community College’s second ever Coming Out Week. AACC will be celebrating Coming Out Week from October 13th – 17th.

For more information about what each day’s events will be, visit the website our website’s calendar at: https://www.thecampuscurrent.com/club-activities/