High winds did not quiet the shouts of students and faculty present at the National Coming Out Day Rally on the Old Main steps Wednesday afternoon.
They shouted "It's Okay to Be..." and members of the crowd shouted back their answers -- queer, gay, straight, bisexual or transgender.
Attendees wore yellow T-shirts printed with "It's Okay to Bee..." and filled in with their own responses. Alex Yates (junior-secondary education), the co-president of the LGBTQA Student Alliance, donned a T-shirt with bee wings and ears as he announced 300 people had signed an ally pledge to start off the event.
Damon Sims, vice president of Student Affairs, spoke first.
"I am pleased to be honoring those faced with a world of discrimination and ignorance," Sims said. "The human heart can overpower closed minds."
Sims pointed out human progress rarely occurs at a desirable pace, but he hopes prejudiced people can be changed by "open hearts."
Another speaker was Christina Thornton (senior-African and African-American studies), who called her mother at work Wednesday morning to finally tell her that her little girl is "actually a little boy."
Her mother didn't pick up the phone, but Thornton is hoping to talk to her soon.
"My mother is the center of my existence," Thornton said. "I look like a boy and my mom hates it."
Thornton said being part of Penn State's LGBTQA community has shown her it's OK to be who she is. Feeling this comfortable in her own skin, she said, would not have been possible without such a supportive network.
Tamara Storey, director of student affairs at the Dickinson School of Law, began her speech by noting her coming-out experience was positive because of her supportive family.
It's not always that way, she said.
"I fight for those who are closeted because they have fear," Storey said. "Deciding to come out should become no more than ... a decision on what shirt to wear."
Storey insisted the community remain vigilant in helping those struggling to come out deal with their own sexual identities.
Josh Miller (senior-engineering) is a straight, Protestant Christian ally of Penn State's LGBTQA community. He spoke of his conservative father who better understands gay issues through his son's work.
"Allies need to have their presence known and felt," Miller said. "Apathy hinders movements for equality, and all forms of oppression are related,"
Christian Ragland, student life and diversity chair for the University Park Undergraduate Association, said he was thrilled to work with Penn State's LGBTQA community and pointed out that diversity is only effective with interaction among diverse groups.
