Out Boulder County celebrates with Lavender Graduations

Out Boulder County will celebrate graduating high school students with pride. 

To give LGBTQ students a colorful celebration for graduation this year, Out Boulder County, or OBC, are throwing a Lavender Graduation. The celebration is open to any high school student graduating this year that identifies as LGBTQ, even if they haven’t engaged with OBC prior. 

OBC staff and volunteers will pile into their cars on May 22 for a parade at a student’s house — or other safe location of their choice — to drop off a graduation gift and cheer them on. The cars will be decorated in rainbow splendor and there will be a chance to take a graduation photo with the car parade. The gifts include a rainbow tassel, jewelry, mini flags, a congratulations card signed by OBC staff and candy.

This will be the second year that OBC has done the Lavender Graduation.

“The reason we created it last year was because a lot of our graduating seniors were upset, rightly so,” said Jenna Howerton, youth program manager at OBC. “COVID had just happened and everything was shut down. Schools weren’t doing graduation, or it was all online. They weren’t able to experience those key last few months’ activities like graduation and prom and all the fun stuff that comes with that.”

Lavender Graduations were started by Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish lesbian, who had been denied the opportunity to attend her children’s graduation ceremonies due to her sexual orientation. Sanlo started the first Lavender Graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan in 1995, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

“We wanted to create something that was safe and still celebrates our graduates, and sort of tie in that history of what Lavender Graduation is,” Howerton said. “It’s been going on for a long time with colleges and universities celebrating their LGBTQ students. We thought bringing that to our graduating high schoolers would be awesome.”

Fourteen students signed up for Lavender Graduation last year, including OBC’s youth peer support assistant Lily Berlin. 

“My experience with Lavender Graduation was amazing. Being a graduate during the pandemic, it was really easy to feel forgotten about and glazed over,” Berlin said. “Everything came to a halting end ...  but Out Boulder came through for their graduates. I felt all of the love of my chosen family and being recognized for my and the class of 2020's achievements. We had volunteers and Out Boulder Staff come to my door and do drive-by graduation. They had their decorated cars and I was given a rainbow tassel that sits on my wall, it's a reminder of all the love in the LGBTQ community Out Boulder fosters.”

“We got really good feedback, a lot of the parents were really happy and joined in with the picture taking,” Howerton said. “There was a lot of happiness and gratitude (from the students) for still doing something to make them feel seen and important.”

The St Vrain Valley Safe Schools Coalition, or SVVSSC, is providing funding and support for the Lavender Graduation along with OBC. SVVSSC is a nonprofit composed of students, parents, teachers and community members that work to promote safe school environments for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

“We're supporting this event to recognize the youth in our community, not only the hard work they put in to graduate high school, but the fact that they are doing it as their authentic selves,” said SVVSSC co-chair Mandy Blumreich. “To move beyond tolerance to acceptance, we need to take every opportunity to show how much we value our LGBTQ+ youth. To recognize their contributions, their awesomeness, and their existence.”

At least a half dozen graduating students have signed up this year and registration is still available. Berlin was enthusiastic about bringing the experience to students this year.

“They’ve had such a long and challenging year, I want them to be recognized and make them feel appreciated for their accomplishments,” Berlin said. “It's exciting to be a part of the process that made my 2020 graduation so special and that I am able to give that to the graduates of 2021!”

Howerton has already started putting some thought into future Lavender Graduations.

Our hope moving forward is that it doesn’t have to be a car parade,” Howerton said. “Next year we’re going to plan for it to be an in-person event and more like a traditional graduation ceremony.”