STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Francesca Scirocco leads Mercer's active LGBTF
Matt White
Issue date: 2/18/10 Section: Profile
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Francesca Scirocco is a second-year Liberal Arts major and president of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Friends (LGBTF) group at Mercer. She has been actively fighting for equal LGBT rights since she was in high school.
"Throughout high school, I wasn't actually out. I was actually beaten up verbally for just casually holding another girl's hand. My school was not very accepting," Scirocco says.
Not wanting others to endure this discrimination, Scirocco joined her high school's LGBT group. However, it was extremely small and she didn't feel as though it was very productive.
Scirocco describes her role as president of Mercer's LGBTF as a "24 hour job" which entails, among other things, keeping the club together and organized and event planning.
"I wouldn't call it stressful because my committee members are amazing! I wouldn't be able to do anything without them. And while I wouldn't call it stressful, I would say that it can be a lot of work to do in a little bit of time," Scirocco says.
Some events that Scirocco and the LGBTF have organized over the last year include a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an "International Taste of Gay," and the forthcoming "My Bloody Valentine," a murder mystery dinner.
Scirocco came out as bisexual two years ago at the age of 18. "I wrote my parents a nine-page letter and gave it to my mom to read aloud when I left for school. We had dinner together that night and both [my parents] - while informing me that they weren't completely happy with [my sexual orientation] - said they loved and supported me. I honestly thought my dad would have reacted irrationally but he was calm and said he already had a feeling. Both support and love me no matter what," Scirocco says.
Not all of Scirocco's friends took the news as well as her parents did. As Francesca explained, "A lot of them stopped talking to me. That's when I grew up and realized I needed to stop worrying about what everyone else thought and just be Francesca."
Scirocco describes her current relationship with her partner, Sarah, as being the healthiest she has ever been in. Sarah and Francesca differ in many regards. "She's the total opposite of me. She loves sports! Sarah is very big on fitness," says Scirocco. But they share a common love of art, traveling, and of course, each other.
After getting a Liberal Arts degree from Mercer with a concentration in Social Science, she hopes to attend Montclair State University for a minor in Gender Psychology and then another school for a major in Forensic Psychiatry.
Mercer has played a significant role in her academic, social and extracurricular experiences and she says that the school has helped to introduce her to many friends and supporters. She also says, "It gave me the opportunity of being the LGBTF President and to help make the club more active. I, personally, have become more of an activist. For that, I am thankful."
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