When Liz Wagner was coming out during her senior year of high school, the only resources available to her were those on the Internet. There was a bar for gay males 20 miles outside of town but she couldn't go because she was underage.

"Only one other person from a class of 400 people was gay," Wagner said.

When she got to the University, she found groups and people with whom she could identify.

"When you're finally away from home, you can finally have freedom," she said.

Many of those groups and people will be rallying today are rallying today as part of National Coming Out Day. PRIDE, a Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender organization, is hosting a rally on the Quad at noon. Journalist Helen Zia will give a lecture at 7 p.m. entitled "Crossing Boundaries in a 'Minority'/Majority America and Other Diversity Challenges." These activities are part of a monthlong attempt to raise awareness of LGBT issues.

National Coming Out Day began Oct. 11, 1987, when 500,000 people participated in the march on Washington for lesbian and gay rights. This was also the first time that the NAMES Project Quilt, a quilt remembering those who have died from AIDS, was unveiled, said Jason Boone, intern for the Human Rights Campaign.

Wagner, senior in LAS, political co-chair for PRIDE, and president of Ladies Loving Ladies, said groups like PRIDE are able to make students feel at home on a huge campus and help them get used to having this freedom.

Curt McKay, director of LGBT resources at the University, believes that the day is politically significant because it deals with the physical and emotional well-being of LGBT people.

Bridget Geraghty, senior in LAS and president of PRIDE, agreed and said that it is important for her to work for her rights now rather than waiting until she wants to get married or adopt children.

"In order to protect yourself and ensure your rights, you have to be willing to put yourself out there," Geraghty said.

James Kurisunkal, freshman in LAS and the other political co-chair for PRIDE, said the day is also important because it encourages and supports students with their attempts to come out of the closet while creating a sense of community among LGBT students.

"It's nice to be amongst people who really feel and understand you when you're going through something that's not very common," he said.

But for some, coming out is a little more complicated. Wagner said that coming out is not an action that occurs once in a person's life. Instead, she said she feels that coming out is difficult because everyone reacts differently when they are told someone is LGBT. So anytime she meets someone new, she doesn't know how they will react to her sexuality.

"The hardest part is that every time you come out to someone, you're risking them judging you," Wagner said. "It's a hard thing to think about."

When William Blanchard, junior in LAS and member of PRIDE, was 16 years old, he came out to his parents.

Immediately after he told his parents, his Mom, a Baptist, blamed his Dad for Blanchard's sexual identity and his Dad began crying.

"A lot of it was her belief that it was a choice or something with my upbringing, and she didn't want to accept responsibility," Blanchard said.

After telling his parents, Blanchard said he spent the next three days avoiding his house, only returning late at night. After the weekend, he came back home, but only out of necessity.

Blanchard said that his sexuality is not something that is discussed at his house, and that although his parents have said he is welcome to come home, his old room is now storage space.

"I'm pretty sure at this point that both myself and my parents know that things will go better if I'm not around," Blanchard said. "I have people who I'm closer with who I say are my family."

McKay said he feels that Coming Out Day is important because it provides students such as Blanchard, who had a bad experience coming out, with a sense of community.

"I think it (National Coming Out Day) helps you know if you're coming out . that there's a whole community out there that can become your new family and friends." McKay said.

Even though he had a rough time coming out, Blanchard said that he's happier since he did it because he no longer feels the need to hide key aspects of his identity.

"Identity is forefront, it's foremost in a human being," Kurisunkal said. "We're here and we have to be able to live proudly."