In a forum beginning the weekend-long celebration surrounding National Coming Out Day, four students led a discussion of the issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and allied (LGBTA) community by telling their personal stories last night.
The forum was a special presentation of the Straight Talks program, a biobehavioral health class run by the LGBTA Student Resource Center. The forum brought about 40 students to a meeting room on the third floor of the HUB-Robeson Center. Among those in attendance were student leaders from organizations such as the Undergraduate Student Government, the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, the Association of Residence Hall Students, Black Caucus and Latino Caucus.
Last night's program was especially geared toward minorities within the LGBTA community.
Aquil Gwynn (senior-psychology) said growing up as a black, homosexual male was difficult due to the lack of role models. He said coming out to his family was difficult but something he realized he needed to do.
"I realized that if I wanted to be happy I would have to accept who I am, and everyone else would have to accept it too," he said.
Gwynn added that coming to college brought him a different set of challenges.
"I came to State College not knowing how conservative Pennsylvania is," he said.
Gwynn is the vice president of Undertones, a support, discussion and social group geared toward LGBTA ethnic and racial minorities. The group is currently working on gaining official campus recognition.
Jason Irizarry (senior-telecommunications) echoed Gwynn's sentiments in his own experiences growing up.
"I never had that positive reinforcement of a gay, Latino male role model in my life," he said, adding that the first person he met fitting that description was a faculty member at Penn State Abington.
"He had his act together and his life together, and that was something I'd never had in my life. Coming to University Park was really an eye opener because I'd never encountered that kind of prejudice," he said.
In addition to focusing attention on the difficulties that minorities face, the speakers emphasized the role of allies in helping to combat prejudice.
"If you're in a circle of friends and you hear something, speak up," said Sara Ryan (sophomore-political science and African and African American Studies), USG director of LGBTA affairs.
"Even if they don't change, they'll think about what you've said."
The activity the students began their talk with exemplified this idea. After writing the words "lesbian," "gay," "bisexual," "transgender," 'ally," and "racial slurs" on a dry erase board, they asked the audience to call out any adjectives that came to mind. After covering the board with an array of terms, Crystal Andrews (junior-Spanish and international politics) asked the audience to think about what the terms had in common.
"They all have to do with the sexual acts and not the people," Andrews said.
"Rarely do we hear anyone say brother, sister, teacher. And LGBTA people are all of these things, but we rarely focus on the whole person."
Other events for NCOD include Anne Heaton singing at 7 tonight at the Daily Grind, 107 E. Beaver Ave., and tomorrow at 10:30 p.m. is the NCOD Extravaganza in HUB Alumni Hall.
