For people who identify as something other than heterosexual, the process of coming out is an important personal journey. It can also be a political act, used as a statement to affirm the existence of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people.

“To tell their family members and friends about this side of themselves can be very empowering,” said first-year Dena Wessel.

In that spirit, the GLBTQ community has celebrated National Coming Out Day every year on Oct. 11. The celebration dates back to 1987, when half a million people marched on Washington D.C. to demand equal rights for gays as well as to unveil a quilt commemorating people who had died of AIDS.

Some Whitman students see this day as an important opportunity to celebrate self-disclosure and promote awareness of the GLBTQ presence on campus.

“It’s more symbolic than anything,” said junior Liam Mina, co-president of the Coalition Against Homophobia. “It’s good for other people to see.”

The Coalition plans to celebrate the day by putting a giant door on Ankeny for people to walk through and come out. First-year Trevor Miller, a member of Coalition, stresses that this isn’t just a day for those who identify as GLBTQ.

“It’s not only a day for people to come out as gay,” he said. “If you’re conservative, you can come out as conservative. It’s a day of openness.”

This openness is welcome for many first-years who have experienced the additional challenges of having to come out to a new group of people while transitioning to college.

“It was weird from my perspective, because most of my friends at home are queer and we’re very open about it,” said Wessel. “People were starting to get to know each other and that part of me which seemed like such a big part at home wasn’t out in the open. That was very disorienting.”

For first-year Nathan Wong, the process has been gradual.

“I said to myself that I wasn’t going to lie to anyone, but I wasn’t going to flaunt it,” he said. “It’s part of who I am, but it’s not an essential part of me.”

Mina attended a private Catholic school in Orange County, where he kept his sexuality private.

“[Coming to Whitman] was nice because in high school I wasn’t out to anyone,” he said. “The only support I could find at home was online.”

Although he feels Whitman is a very accepting place, he still thinks celebrating National Coming Out Day in a public way is important.

“Things go unnoticed a lot on a tiny campus,” he said.

The door on Ankeny will show that both the GLBTQ community and the day itself exist.

“It’s trying to demystify gay people,” said Wessel. Last year, she celebrated the day by updating her Facebook status to say, “Dena is bisexual.”

“I might do that again this year,” she added.

To Wong, National Coming Out Day is more than a statement about the gay community.

“It’s just a day of coming out against social stereotypes, and I think that’s nice,” he said.