It was last summer when third-year law student Cynthia Edwards found herself in a surreal situation. The Midwesterner was in West Hollywood, interning for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), on the day that gay marriage was legalized in California: July 17, 2008.

“It was pretty cool because I escorted George Takei and his partner, Brad Altman, pretty much everywhere,” Edwards said.

The couple were getting their marriage license. Major media outlets, from CNN to the Associated Press, were there. Protestors, including one with devil horns and his face painted red, were outnumbered by supporters of gay marriage.

“They looked silly,” she said of the protestors.

Edwards is among the NIU students who are advocates for LGBT issues. Along with Hillary Kowalski, senior communication and political science major, Edwards gave a presentation about her experiences, Tuesday night, as part of NIU’s LGBT Awareness Month. NIU has received recognition over the years for being LGBT-friendly and is one of a small number of universities with an LGBT Resource Center or studies program. Thursday is the last day of LGBT Awareness Month.

Over the summer in Washington D.C., Kowalski interned for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the elimination of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Among other duties, she prepared testimony to be used at a congressional hearing about the law.

Kowalski has experienced the negative effects of the policy firsthand, when she served in the Navy from age 17 to 19. As a gay service member, she feared she could be outed at any time. After the person she was closest with was kicked out under the law, Kowalski decided to leave.

“Serving in the U.S. military has always been a dream of mine,” she said. “I want to serve again after the law is repealed.”

Kowalski is hopeful it will happen under President Barack Obama, who opposes the policy, but until it is, she will continue fighting it, she said.

Both Edwards and Kowalski stressed the importance of LGBT Awareness Month.

“I think it’s important for any minority group to have an awareness month to really let people know that this group exists. It’s another effort to make the invisible visible,” Kowalski said. “The hope is not to have a month for special groups. Hopefully one day we’ll all be equal.”