Flagstaff celebrated National Coming Out Day and welcomed lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT), as well as straight allies, to celebrate their sexuality and encourage straight allies to support the LGBT community.

On Oct. 9, the Coming Out Day celebration kicked off at 9 p.m. in the Green Room with a coming out dance. PRISM, the LGBT activist club on campus, organized the dance in accordance with National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11), a civil-awareness movement. 

On Friday, the Women and Gender Studies Program hosted Live Queer Acts, an event at the First Amendment Plaza that featured several LGBT support organizations, including PFLAG, ASWI and PRISM. Students, staff and Flagstaff residents were welcome to make silk-screen shirts to proclaim pride for their sexuality or support for the LGBT community.

Heather Martel, one of the main organizers for Live Queer Acts and a professor in the Department of History, said she was looking forward to annual celebrations.

“We’d like to do an event for National Coming Out Day every day,” Martel said. “This is our first year, and we’ve had a steady stream of people, especially for the silk-screen shirts. They’re making T-shirts saying ‘True Blue Queer’ or ‘True Blue Ally,’ and there have only been a few ink mishaps.”

Martel said she believes the T-shirts will help those on campus who have been scared to come out.

On Saturday, a handful of Flagstaff residents visited downtown businesses to speak on behalf of the proposed LGBT non-discrimination ordinance. Several supporters for the ordinance had local businesses sign a letter from Equality Arizona to give to City Council.  

National Coming Out Day is an event to make those in the LGBT community feel comfortable with expressing themselves and their sexuality.  Flagstaff’s coming out events were aimed toward supporting the LGBT community and encouraging equal rights and acceptance. 

“I remember my first coming out day in college being a big deal,” Martel said. “It was scary, but I put on a T-shirt proclaiming myself and found people who supported me. It’s really important to find friendly faces, people who will support you. For young people and not-so-young people struggling with coming out, the community needs to come out and give support.”

Martel and volunteers spent weeks getting ready for Live Queer Acts, gathering tables, contacting organizations and setting up the silk-screen T-shirt station. 

Laura Bjork, a sophomore English major and secretary for PRISM, said the organization was gearing up for Coming Out Day all week.

“We’ve had a booth outside the Union all this week with our table,” Bjork said. “We have people put their hand in a plate of paint and leave their hand print on the table cloth. It symbolizes that we are all the same; gay, straight, black, white, male, female. We are all the same.”

Bjork said Coming Out Day is important for educating students about the LGBT community.

“A lot of people are uneducated about it,” Bjork said. “When we’re out here more, they’ll come closer to the LGBT community.”

Though the reaction has been positive overall, there have been some negative reactions to PRISM’s openness.

“We’ve had some people tell us we shouldn’t be flaunting what we’re all about,” Bjork said. “But overall, the reaction has been really good. I’ve had couples come up in their 50s who support what we’re doing, and I’m thinking, ‘Dude, that’s awesome!’”

Georgia Duncan, the president of PFLAG, also attended the event at First Amendment Plaza.

“We were asked to come by the women’s studies department at NAU,” Duncan said. “We were glad to come out. We support gays and lesbians and their families and friends. We provide support and advocate acceptance. We’re the Flagstaff branch of a national organization that’s been going since 1979. We want to see support and equal rights for lesbian and gay people.”

Ruthanne Hassing, the treasurer and membership chair of PFLAG, said she believed the event was a great way to get info to students.

“We speak to PRISM sometimes to give them pamphlets and let them know what there is to know,” Hassing said. “We try to give them information and support. We get to help, support and solve big problem that people have. Sometimes people come to our meeting with a huge concern, and there’s always someone at the meeting that knows exactly what to do or say.”

PRISM meets in Havasupai A & B in the Union on Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m.