"It made them feel welcome," he said.
Scheduled events include lectures, discussion panels, a concert, film screenings and the ever-popular drag show.
The week kicks off tonight with the program, "Following a Spiritual Path: Joys and Sorrows Along the Way" at 8 in the Pasquerilla Memorial Lounge.
The main event, the National Coming Out Day rally, will be held at noon on Wednesday at Old Main.
"There's a lot of great speakers telling their stories and giving encouragement to others," Josh Lenes (junior-psychology and women's studies), who attended last year's rally, said.
The rally also includes an open-mic portion where members of the LGBTA community are invited and encouraged to tell their stories and "come out" publicly to a large crowd for the first time.
Matheis said he hasn't heard whether any of the speakers are specifically planning to comment on the preachers.
"We have so many more important things to do than to respond to hate speech," he said.
Following the rally will be a concert by Alix Olson at 7 p.m. in the HUB-Robeson Center.
Olson's Web site, www.alixolson.com, describes her as "an internationally touring folk poet and progressive queer artist-activist."
"That is a huge event," Matheis said, adding that he is expecting people from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and beyond to come to Penn State to attend.
Toward the end of the week comes the student drag show, at 10:30 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Hall.
"The drag show is pretty awesome," Lenes said. "It's just a very fun time overall to kind of let loose."
Matheis said the drag show appeals to a wide range of people who might not come to the other events during the week.
"In some ways, the drag show builds allies in ways we're not able to elsewhere," he said.
Matheis also highlighted a program called "Diverse Relationships," to be held at noon tomorrow in 129 HUB. The program will be a panel discussion with both gay and bisexual couples.
"Couples from different perspectives will be sharing their life stories," Matheis said.
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