Despite the controversy that arose over last year's Sex Faire, Womyn's Concerns will go ahead with this year's version of the event at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the West Halls Study and Cultural Lounges.

The fair attracted attention last year when state Rep. John Lawless, D-Montgomery, came to protest the event with a cameraman. Later in the year, he presented the video footage he had collected to members of the state legislature, requesting that the university lose funding for allowing the event.

Mikaela Marmion, co-director of Womyn's Concerns, said the group was not discouraged from holding the event again after the negative attention it got last year.

"It's almost even more important as a result," she said. "We really don't feel like we have anything to hide."

Penn State changed its policy for all groups requesting on-campus space after last year's Sex Faire. Now groups have to let administrators know if their events will be sexually explicit in nature.

In response to a new rule made by the university, the group has agreed to check identification at the door. All attendees must show that they are over 18 years old or a Penn State student.

Laurie Rosenberger, the other Womyn's Concerns co-director, said she is working to comply with the rules and has not had any problems proceeding with the event.

"We really haven't had any problems at all," she said.

Lawless, who has since changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Last year, he said he disagreed with the event's message.

He specifically criticized the "Tent of Consent," which was not actually a part of the event. Penn State administrators told the organizers to close it before the event began.

The idea of the tent had been to inform participants about different aspects of consent. Once visitors demonstrated that they understood consent, they would have been admitted to a tent for a short amount of time, with two or more others to do anything they agreed upon beforehand.

When planning this year's event, Womyn's Concerns made the decision to eliminate the Tent of Consent altogether.

"We just didn't go there this year," Rosenberger said.

The idea and execution of last year's Tent of Consent was organized by the group Men Stopping Rape. The same group decided to organize this year's "Get Lei'd" table to replace the tent.

Dan Hindman, meetings coordinator of Men Stopping Rape, worked to create the "Get Lei'd" attraction, which will replace last year's controversial tent.

"We're trying to make people more aware of the importance of getting consent, some of the barriers to getting consent, and the consequences if you don't get consent," he said.

Rosenberger said she's pleased with the way MSR has handled the controversy. "This is what they came up with, and we're really looking forward to it," she said.

She was aware of the potential problems surrounding the event, but she said that so far things have turned out well.

"Everything has been so smooth," she said.

The group will be prepared with spokespeople in case they meet controversy again this year, but so far there has been no indication that will be the case.

"The main goal of Sex Faire has always been education," Rosenberger said.