History of National Coming Out Day: 2000:Think it O-o-ver …
Since 2000 was another presidential election year, the National Coming Out Day theme once again focused on voting. A key result of those elections was highlighted in posters and public service announcements pointing out that whoever was elected president would probably nominate two to four U.S. Supreme Court justices who would have an impact for decades. National Coming Out Day posters featured a cartoon of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia holding microphones and singing (from the Supremes’ great hit) "Think it o-o-ver." The poster asked the seminal question of the elections: "Who Will Choose the Next Supremes?"
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| (l to r): Former professional baseball player Billy Bean, NCOP Manager Candace Gingrich with Bean, and Michael Crawford, HRC's Eastern field organizer, celebrate National Coming Out Day Oct. 11, 2000 at the University of Pennsylvania. [Photos by: B. Proud © 2000] |
The official National Coming Out Day celebration that year was held at the University of Pennsylvania in conjunction with a special announcement. Morethan 400 people were on hand when David Goodhand and Vincent Griski, who had met and fallen in love as undergrads at Penn in the ’80s, kicked off a capital campaign to build the first stand-alone GLBT resource center on any U.S. college campus. Penn President Judith Rodin and numerous students participated in the rally. Former professional baseball player Billy Bean was a highlight of the day, sharing his own coming out story and happily autographing specially made National Coming Out Day baseballs. Michael Crawford, HRC’s Eastern field organizer and National Coming Out Project Manager Candace Gingrich also spoke.