It will be OK with more than 250 Iowa State students, faculty and staff this week during LGBTAA’s National Coming Out Days.

T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “It’s Okay With Me” will lend support to the week’s theme of showing support for the LGBT community. A rally will be held at noon Monday on the south lawn of the library to kick off the week’s events.

The purpose of the T-shirt campaign, the rally and the week’s events is for people who are coming out as homosexual to know there is a support system for them, said Julia McGinley, president of LGBTAA.

National Coming Out Day began in 1987 with a march on Washington D.C. for gay and lesbian equality. Later, the founders of National Coming Out Day chose the anniversary of this march, October 11, as a day to celebrate coming out as gay.

McGinley, junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management, said this year National Coming Out Day also coincides with the fifth anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, the gay student beaten to death in Wyoming. She said there will be a small commemoration for him.

“We want to emphasize his life, not his death,” McGinley said.

McGinley said letters about the campaign were sent to all administrators, deans, department chairs and leaders of student organizations and she hopes to see “It’s okay with me” T-shirts all over campus Monday.

The original goal was to have 200 people with shirts, but more than 250 have been requested and LGBTAA is still receiving inquiries for more shirts, she said.

The T-shirt campaign originated at Duke University where administrators, faculty, staff and students wore T-shirts that stated “Gay? Fine by me” to visibly show support for homosexuals in the community.

McGinley said LGBTAA decided to broaden the saying to “It’s Okay With Me.”

In addition to the rally and other events held last week, the Ames chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG, will be holding a discussion panel Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in room 299 of the Scheman Building.

“We’re putting on this panel to acquaint people with PFLAG,” said Carolyn Cutrona, president of the Ames chapter of PFLAG. “More importantly, [we want] to show people it is possible for [them] to have a positive family experience when someone of the family is gay or lesbian.”

The topic “Gay Children, Loving Parents” will be discussed by four panelists, three of whom are parents of gay children. The other parent is a formerly married gay man with three children, said Cutrona, professor of psychology.

Cutrona said the panel discussion is done every year. “We were delighted to be able to coordinate with National Coming Out Week this year,” she said.