Scores of students filed into the Little Theater while others struggled to find a seat. The leaders of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) tried to contain the growing crowds. A large wooden frame stood in the center of the stage.

On Oct. 11, students gathered to celebrate Coming Out day, founded in 1988 to promote awareness and acceptance of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community. Students were given the chance to walk through the wooden door frame and say what they were coming out as, even if it was not their sexual orientation. Answers varied from "cool" or "awesome" to "bisexual" or "questioning."

Junior club president Jessie Belfer said the goals of the GSA, hosted the event, were "to provide a safe space where people feel comfortable talking about issues dealing with... the queer community and also to promote awareness and acceptance of queer oriented people at Gunn." Belfer said the club is not only for those of the GLBT community but also for straight allies who are supportive of their peers. "The GSA is... also for [people] who want to do their part to make Gunn a more accepting place for the queer community," Belfer said. The club holds meetings Tuesdays at lunch in GSA advisor Daisy Renazco's room, MS2-9.

Despite all the efforts to increase the student body's acceptance of GLBT students, some students still do not feel comfortable coming out publicly. Amber Tallen*, a student who started questioning her sexuality at age ten, said she feels the need to hide the fact she is bisexual because she isn't sure her parents will react positively. "I haven't really come out formally about it. I feel the need to hide the fact that I have gone out with and am attracted to girls and guys from my parents because they have expressed that they are homophobic," she said. Tallen said her father has asked her why she cannot just have "normal" straight friends. Robert Greene*, who is bisexually male, also has had difficulties coming out to his parents. "As of right now, my dad is the only person I haven't told," he said. "He claims to... support gay marriage, but I'm concerned about how he'd respond."

While Tallen and Greene have had trouble revealing their sexuality to close family, many others have felt uncomfortable in a place that should be safe–school. GLBT students said they have felt more GLBT than usual on the Day of Silence, an event held every April in which students refrain from speaking to echo the silence that some of the students of the GLBT community must endure every day. "Last year on the Day of Silence, a few people... were being incredibly rude to me and even violent with a friend of mine who was also participating," Sarah Walker* said. "It was the first time I've really felt unsafe being who I am at Gunn." Walker first questioned her sexuality in the seventh grade but was sure she was bisexual by the time she was a freshman. She said she feels that many people openly make offending comments without realizing the consequences. "I know several people who are either homophobic or don't care who they offend, and throw around slurs and anti-LGBT insults like they were nothing," Walker said.

Jill Robinson*, a lesbian student who began to question her sexuality in eighth grade, has also had rough experiences. "On the Day of Silence, I got some negative comments from classmates," she said. "It really upset me that those people could not be mature enough to be respectful."

While these incidents occur during specific GLBT events, many students said their sexual orientation also changes their social interaction on a daily basis. "At school, conversations about 'who do you like?' or 'who do you want to go to homecoming with?' can get pretty awkward," Robinson said. Other students, however, do not feel that their sexuality should hinder their social life or change people's opinions. "It's not weird to be queer oriented, it's just something that people aren't used to," John Doe* said. Doe is a straight transgender male. "[I've known] since I was like three or four... that I was suppose to be born one way and even though that didn't work out, I still want to be looked at as being a guy, not being a transgender guy," he said.

While being a student of the GLBT community can be difficult, some students find that they benefit from their experiences. "I think my sexual orientation gives me a different perspective on a lot of things. I feel the need to be more of an activist for GLBT rights... because it affects me directly,"Robinson said.