Flash Mobbing For Equality

Students at the University of Colorado are planning an interesting demonstration today.

Most Friday mornings, the fountain area outside the University Memorial Center serves as hub for any number of run-of-the-mill student activities, from studying and chatting with friends to just passing through on the way to class. Just before noon this Friday, however, the University of Colorado’s Dalton Trumbo Fountain will play host to something a bit steamier: a mass make-out session. Student organizers say the demonstration, titled “Make Out Stake Out,” will give gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students — along with their straight allies — an avenue to playfully challenge societal norms about public displays of affection. If all goes as planned, at precisely 11:53 a.m., a “flash mob” of student couples of varying sexual orientations suddenly will appear at the UMC fountain square, make out for two minutes — and then disperse. “We’re trying to remove the stigma that surrounds same-sex affection in public and, more importantly, the misconception that if you are queer and you are expressing affection in public that you are rubbing it in people’s faces,” junior Spencer Watson said.