LUST (Love, Understanding Sexuality and Trust) Week is underway.

In conjunction with the event, four lesbian , gay, bisexual and transgender panelists spoke Tuesday night in the Knapp/Storms commons about their sexuality and recent events of vandalism on the ISU campus.

LUST Week includes several activities for students to better understand sexuality and relationships.

“The purpose of this week’s activities is to inform students on the different aspects of LUST and to teach them to be more open-minded when it comes to meeting people of different sexual backgrounds,” said Kelly Considine, LUST Week coordinator and sophomore in horticulture.

Tuesday night’s event included personal narratives from the four panelists about their backgrounds and feelings about Iowa State.

Anne Wiltgen, freshman in political science, said she is currently contemplating her decision to attend Iowa State.

“The recent incidents of graffiti on campus have made me want to be more active,” she said. “I want to find out if it’s safe here and if this is really where I want to be.”

Wiltgen said she is nervous about the graffiti incidents but not about the actual perpetrators.

“The thing that scares me is that I don’t hear an outcry from the student body against these acts,” she said.

Ben Taylor, panelist and LGBTA Alliance president, said he is impressed by Iowa State’s administration in regard to the recent graffiti incidents.

“I am really excited about where things are at in the university right now,” he said. “It’s great to have the administration’s support with these types of issues.”

Taylor said his overall experience at Iowa State has been positive. He said his perspective with regard to diversity is to just respect it and not be afraid of it.

“That has been my philosophy for quite a while now, and it seems to work well,” he said.

Rich Eychaner, an LGBT activist from Des Moines, said it’s easy to get depressed and hide from the discrimination and events that are happening, but that is not the route he has chosen.

“It’s better to just be out there,” he said. “I’m gay, and here I am.”

LUST Week will include a contest in which participants compete to see who can place a condom on a banana the fastest at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

There will also be banana splits served during a movie Wednesday and a drag show at 9:15 p.m. Thursday. All events are free and will be held in the Knapp/Storms commons. Free condoms and information on sexuality will also be available.