DeKALB | Beatnik Soup has nothing do with tomato bisque, but maybe just a little to do with Jack Kerouac.

NIU’s first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender open mic session, Beatnik Soup, will be held at 9 p.m. Thursday in DuSable Hall Room 140 as a part of LGBT Awareness Month. Sponsoring the event, Soup, the NIU student group focusing on the academic sphere of non-heteronormative identities, hopes to give students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender a chance to express their identity and experiences.

“When it’s this time of year (crunch time), students can come and a project that they’ve done, a writing sample, a piece of art, a song they’ve written, anything they want,” said Sarah Hanson, sociology graduate student. “It’s an opportunity to meet a couple of professors who are LGBT faculty associates and they’re sharing their research in the LGBT field.”

Hanson said although the event is marketed toward the LGBT community, everyone is welcome to attend. Over five performers are scheduled for the night, and more are welcome to sign up at the door.

“What I like about this event is that it allows for different forms of expression when it comes to LGBT identity,” said Molly B. Holmes, director of the LGBT Resource Center. “What I hope will come out of it is that students have another opportunity outside of the other events to express themselves, feel connected and learn from others’ experiences.”

Holmes said because Beatnik Soup is largely a product of Soup, NIU’s LGBT student organization aligned with the LGBT studies program, the event has a unique perspective.

“With the interaction with faculty and students in the LGBT studies program, it brings an element of academic backing to self-expression,” Holmes said. “I think that extra element of critical thinking just provides another lens to look at LGBT awareness which is what we’re striving for the whole month.”

Hanson said while the event is an important outlet of self-expression, she hopes that it helps students become more conscious of the LGBT studies program.

“It’s important to take the night off and express yourself, sing a good song, write a good letter and know that there is LGBT research being done on campus,” Hanson said.