All the colors of the rainbow

A colorful spectrum of students from all over the Boston area gathered for the second annual Taste the Rainbow Intercollegiate Queer Dance in Hotung last weekend. Tufts Transgender Lesbian Gay Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC) hosted the event on Saturday night, and an invitation to the event was extended to students from all over Boston.

Partygoers danced, schmoozed, and refueled on late night chicken wings from the Hotung kitchen until one in the morning. Students from University of Massachusetts Boston, Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and Boston College were among those who attended, and Tufts and non-Tufts students alike had a great time dancing and mingling with their peers.

The dance was a hit in the eyes of everyone involved. "After the dance, many folks came up to me to comment... on how much they had enjoyed it," organizer Andrew Chapman said, going on to call the night a "brilliant success." While non-Tufts attendees appreciated the opportunity to see the Tufts campus and get a taste of Jumbo lovin', Tufts students enjoyed the chance to acquaint themselves with their intercollegiate peers.

Chapman and his fellow organizers worked extremely hard to prepare for the dance. Committees from TTLGBC decorated and prepared Hotung for the night's festivities. DJ George Forman Grill provided the music while events staff covered the evening's logistics. Attendees paid a $5 cover charge at the door to cover the costs of the dance. Although preparations continued up to the last minute, the night went by without any hitches.

Hotung was packed with students, both gay and straight, dancing the night away. Chapman said that the night started out a little slow, but that by 11:30, Hotung was hopping. When the night drew to a close at one in the morning, few partygoers wanted the dance to end.

Organizers welcomed students of all sexualities. Junior Karina Lorenzana said that she had a great time dancing regardless of her dance partner's sexual orientation, adding that "gay boys are better dancers anyway."

Gay and straight students alike support events like Saturday's dance on-campus. Lorenzana said that the dance "gives Tufts the opportunity to create an atmosphere of tolerance and open-mindedness."

Patrick Brown, the TTLGBC Community Representative to the TCU Senate, praised the dance both for the message it sends the Tufts community and for the social opportunities provided by the event itself, saying that it_helped to increase visibility of queer people on the Tufts campus, as well as providing a safe environment for students from different schools to interact with each other." Without opportunities like this one, students can become isolated on their individual campuses.

By welcoming students of all sexualities to celebrate their identities, Tufts supports diversity on-campus and off. "It's important to know who you are," Lorenzana said. "Things like this give you the chance to explore and express yourself without any stigma."

TTLGBC is an undergraduate organization that promotes awareness of issues surrounding sexuality, identity, and diversity in the Tufts community. It seeks to provide a safe forum for all students to discuss sexuality, to network, and to promote political action to support safe communities and equal rights.

The first "Taste the Rainbow" dance took place at Tufts during the last academic year in November 2002. Like this year's dance, students from all over Boston came out to the Hill for the night of music, dancing, and social networking that took place. The first dance was such a success that organizers decided to make it an annual event. TTLGBC plans on repeating the dance next year, especially after Saturday's success.