Gathered in front of a crowd of more than 150 people on Old Main yesterday, black comedian René Hicks said when she came out as a lesbian, her grandmother referred to her as being like a Ku Klux Klan "two-for-one special."

"I actually thought about converting to Judaism so that I could complete their trifecta of intolerance," she said.

Hicks was one speaker at yesterday's National Coming Out Day -- a day for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its allies to show themselves for who they are, event organizers said.

Hicks, who said she came out at age 16, served as the keynote speaker at the rally.

She asked the crowd to make as much noise as they could -- "I want people inside to know you are out here," said Hicks, who was met with thunderous shouts.

In her speech, Hicks made more comparisons of being gay to being black.

"Black people a hundred years ago were the gay people of today," Hicks said. She went on to compare the gay marriage ban amendment that some have suggested with the fact that slaves were not permitted to marry.

Following the speech, the organizers turned the microphone over to anyone who wanted to come up and speak, especially people who wanted to share their coming out stories.

Steve Lucas (sophomore-English) spoke about his experiences at the beginning of the event.
"Everyday I remain out of the closet is another day countless others remain locked inside," Lucas said to the crowd.

After the open microphone session concluded, event organizer Christina Swomley (senior-psychology) led the crowd in a modified version of the "We are ... Penn State" cheer, changing the words to "We are ... not straight."

In addition to members of the LGBT community, several student government leaders, including University Park Undergraduate Association President Hillary Lewis and Safeguard Old State Executive Director Gavin Keirans spoke.

Former Black Caucus President Darryl Watson, also a speaker at the event, led the crowd in a "non-denominational communal affirmation."

"HomeComing Out," the theme for this year's National Coming Out week, coincides with Penn State's Homecoming celebration.

"E Pluribus Unum," which means "out of many, comes one" is the event's secondary theme.
The two themes are connected because Penn State's Homecoming is supposed to be a time of unity for the university as a whole, said event organizer Nicole Barrett (senior-psychology).

"At Penn State in general, the parade is supposed to unify the community," Barrett added. "We wanted to make our theme show the unity of the LGBT community."

The event was organized by the LGBTA Resource Center and the Rainbow Roundtable, an organization made up of representatives from several different LGBTA groups, Barrett said. One of the major groups in the Rainbow Roundtable, SpeakOut, was also involved in the planning.

"I think it's really important to spread awareness and visibility for the LGBTA community here at Penn State," said SpeakOut co-chair Josh Miller (sophomore-electrical engineering).

Shannon Keane (sophomore-elementary education) was one of several people who stopped to watch the event. Despite the fact that she doesn't know many gay people, Keane said she supported the event's cause.

"You never really realize the difficulty of coming out," Keane said.

Jorge Ballinas (senior-sociology) said he is not affiliated with any of the organizations, but he does support the cause and considers himself "an ally."

"We need a new kind of unity," speaker Cory Coppersmith (senior-communication arts and sciences) said. "E Pluribus Fruitum."