National Coming Out Day is a big deal to NIU’s PRISM group.

PRISM is a diverse organization that gives lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people a chance to share common interests and experiences. It was formed on April 12, 1970, after the Stonewall Riots in New York City.

Co-president Cassandra Liddell is proud to be involved with not only PRISM, but with National Coming Out Day as well. She’s been a PRISM member for four years and enjoys being co-president of the organization because PRISM encourages people who may be afraid to come out and helps support them.

“We are just a group of cool, friendly people who like to hang out,” Liddell said. “We are very open to anybody and everybody. You don’t have to be homosexual to hang out with us. We don’t turn anybody away for any reason.”

National Coming Out Day was founded on Oct. 11, 1988, and has been an annual event since a march on Washington in 1987. The day celebrates the lives of LGBT people and helps promote a positive image. It also helps those who want to come out into the gay community, but may not have the support of doing so.

“A lot of people find it hard to come out and we want to celebrate the fact they have come out,” Liddell said.

PRISM Co-president Emily Caballero, a freshman child psychology and creative writing major, feels National Coming Out day is important on a personal level and to those individuals who are coming out.

“National Coming Out Day celebrates me as a person, and a part of my life that was very difficult, but I survived,” Caballero said. “The day is us coming together saying we are here and proud of ourselves, and that is great.”

Caballero is not the only homosexual who feels the day is important.

Shaundra Stephansen-Martin, a sophomore biology major at Kishwaukee Community College, also feels National Coming Out Day is something to celebrate.

“The day is a good opportunity for people who are scared to show what they’re about without others looking down upon them,” Stephansen-Martin said. “When I joined PRISM the group was extremely accepting of who I am.”

PRISM takes pride in representing diversity.

“We are a group who is based on diversity,” Caballero said. “We not only create a comfort zone for people who are homosexuals, but we also create an environment for people who have questions who may otherwise feel uncomfortable walking up to a gay person. We have dances they can go to and meetings they can attend and that is where we have an environment for everyone.”