Couples on the Plaza of the Americas Thursday spelled out their feelings for one another as part of Same-Sex Hand Holding Day.
About 60 UF students of all sexual orientations took pictures from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
They held hands and also held up a letter from the word “love” to emphasize equality among people with different sexual preferences.
The event was part of Pride Awareness Month, a celebration of sexuality sponsored by the Pride Student Union.
“I’ve been waiting four years for the chance to have same-sex couples enjoy this privilege and to provide them a safe place where they don’t have to hide how they feel for one another,” said Jason Hackett, a fourth-year telecommunications student and director of the event.
Hackett said he will make the pictures into a collage spelling the word “love,” and he will paste the collage onto a Pride Student Union banner.
Heterosexual couples also took photos. They held hands and held up letters to show their support for the Pride Student Union, and more than 100 UF students stopped by to enjoy the vegan ice cream and Publix cake.
Jose Genao, an English junior, took a picture grasping the hand of Matt Binder, a UF freshman. Genao is pansexual, someone who displays many forms of sexual expression, but he is tired of people trying to define his sexuality.
“I’m sick of people guessing what I am, like, is he straight, gay, bisexual?” Genao said. “I’m a person.”
Pride Student Union has the month of April lined up with events for Pride Awareness Month to celebrate sexuality with events called “Paint Your Orgasm” and “Queer Ball.”
The Pride Student Union is a UF social, educational and support organization that strives to provide and maintain an open, safe and inclusive atmosphere for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersexed, allied, asexual and pansexual UF students.
