At Moorpark College, the Spectrum ( LGBTIQS Alliance) Program came in from Channel Islands to host an activity called “Coming out Stars” on Multicultural Day. The event was used to raise the awareness about homophobia in general.

The ladies who hosted the event, Kristen Moss and Kari Moss, are sisters who did an activity using stars. The stars were used to represent each person’s world. Each star had a different color: blue, orange, red, and purple.

The Moss sisters wanted the students to put a symbol onto the star that represents them. On the edge of the stars people wrote the name of loved ones, groups, jobs and work. After this task, the students were instructed to gather around in a circle.

“The circle is use for people to view what is going on around them,” said Kari Moss.

In the circle, the sisters read off stats from 2009. The stars represented if someone came out of the closet, and the different reactions that each person would have received. Each person’s star was affected from these stats being read, and then people would either fold or tear their star apart.

The blue and orange stars represented more support of the person coming out. The red star had some tears in it, but it was still be able to stand. The purple star was completely ripped and destroyed, since it represented those who committed suicide.

“We want to raise awareness and fight away these homophobic reactions,” said Kristen Moss.

The activity was used to give students the idea of
what it is like coming out of the closet. An open discussion was used to break
out, and let people discuss how they feel about the events, which allowed
students to understand each other and understand what they can do as people in order to stop these homophobic boundaries that are present in the world