National Coming Out Days is a fall celebration in which gays and lesbians reach out to others in the community, trying to encourage those who are still in the closet to openly celebrate their sexuality.

Spring’s Awareness Days 2000 is something a little different: It’s a revelry with no apologies. As the president of the ISU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Alliance Levi Richardson said, Coming Out Days is about the process of publicly acknowledging sexual orientation; Awareness Days is brash and out.

“Awareness Days is just about being ‘in your face.’ It’s like, ‘We’re here; we’re queer — get used to it,'” Richardson said.

He noted that in years past, there has been some controversy surrounding Awareness Days, usually because of events such as Reverse Campaniling. Even though some sections of the ISU campus may disagree with these activities, Richardson said there’s a positive side to this.

“At least it’s getting noticed, and at least people can’t ignore it,” he said.

The Alliance, along with representatives from LGBT Student Services and the Ames chapter of P-FLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), celebrated the official start of Awareness Days 2000 with a rally by the Campanile. About 30 people attended the event, which featured several prominent LGBT and ally speakers.

Sarah Schweitzer, acting president of the Alliance, welcomed the crowd and thanked people for attending despite the somewhat adverse weather conditions.

“It’s great to see everyone braving the wind and braving a lot of things really for a cause that I’m really involved with,” said Schweitzer, sophomore in history and women’s studies. She also praised Iowa State and Ames’ gay and lesbian community for several recent successful endeavors, including the Safe Zone Project and the inclusion of a lesbian literature course.

“They actually have boys in it this year — seven of them,” Schweitzer joked.

The perception of the LBGT community may be changing slowly but surely, said Travis Greene, LGBT Student Services coordinator. He cited recent pro-gay-rights legislation and the inclusion of LGBT issues and people in the mass media, such as the Oscar-winning “American Beauty” and “Boys Don’t Cry.”

But there are other issues to tackle now, Greene said, including “racism in our community. … We need to step up to the plate.”

Members of the community were joined by supporters. Laura Bestler, assistant director at the Student Activities Center, was one of the rally’s speakers and a recipient of last fall’s Houston Dougharty Ally Award.

“I’m proud to be a supporter of LGBT issues. I’m an ally because I firmly believe in being who you are and who you want to be,” Bestler said, adding that “we have made some great strides, and I will continue to support LGBT issues.”

Pete Englin, associate dean of students, also echoed the sentiment that LGBT issues are becoming more acceptable in society. He used his 9- and 11-year-old children as examples to illustrate that homophobia is taught, not an automatic feeling.

His children “view the world in an opening and accepting way; on the other hand, we have a lot of work left to do,” Englin said.

Events celebrating Awareness Days 2000 will be held all this week. Many speakers said the highlight of the week should be the speech of Judy Shepard, the mother of slain gay student Matthew Shepard.

Her speech will be Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Other events can be found on the Alliance’s Web site, www.alliance.stuorg.iastate.edu/awareness.