Oct. 11 has marked a significant and memorable day for many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It is National Coming Out Day.

This year, members of the Westside community are joining people nation-wide to observe National Coming Out Day and its 25-year anniversary.

According to the Human Rights Campaign website, one out of every two Americans has someone close to them who is gay or lesbian. For transgender people, that number is only one in 10. Many Americans are also affected in some way by the fight for equality by LGBT individuals and are occasionally reminded by the media of the Gay-Marriage movement in the United States.

With these issues being a hot topic on the news from time to time, something still is often overlooked and even forgotten, that being the amount of bullying that occurs due to sexual orientation. A recent study done by Bullyingstatistics.org showed that about 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school because of their sexual orientation. National Coming Out Day, however, creates a safe environment in high schools, including Westside, for students to take pride in who they are and express themselves, without judgement.

Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) advisor, Sue Stehly, has been active with helping and has also witnessed National Coming Out Day at the high school for many years. She knows its importance to students who may be struggling and sees it as something greater than just an annual event for the LGBT community.

“To me it is just one other step toward includity and diversity and being able to celebrate individualism,” said Stehly. “You don’t necessarily have to agree or disagree with being gay or not, but agree with the fact and accept the fact that people can be different.”

As many teenagers across the country struggle with coming out and finding acceptance, Westside’s GSA Club this year will be providing a way to make the need for understanding and tolerance of and for the LGBT community known. In previous years, GSA has handed out  rainbow ribbons, which symbolize LGBT identity and solidarity. This year, however, GSA will be asking more of students before they are able to sign and pledge their support.

“As long as GSA has been around at Westside, they have always been a part of educating and passing out rainbow ribbons for people to show their support for LGBT people that have come out,” said Stehly. “This year were going to do something a little bit different.  Instead of just signing a pledge and then getting a ribbon, we have facts and statistics and students have to choose one of the facts or statistics and repeat it back to us.”

The information on the hardships, movements and history of the LGBT community and National Coming Out Day that will be provided to students before they can sign the pledge is an opportunity for GSA students to become more involved in educating the Westside student body. It is also a way for students to become more well-informed on the topics presented by GSA and to gain a clear idea of what they are committing to supporting.

Coming out for many individuals, especially high school students is a difficult thing to cope with and understand. It may also come along with many struggles, including a lack of acceptance from family, friends and even teachers or co-workers. But even with the risks that are involved, National Coming Out Day is still an open invitation for LGBT students to come out and be content with who they are, expecially with their theme this year being “Coming Out Still Matters.” This day also sheds light on how hard of a thing being an LGBT individual is in a judgmental and critical society.

As men and women that are known to the public such as Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory, Neil Patrick Harris from How I met Your Mother and Jane Lynch from Glee, just to name a few, have come out to the public, it still does not make the process any easier for high school students who are as young as 14 or 15. This makes it all the more reason to keep an open-mind to learning while celebrating National Coming Out Day. Make it your goal to stop bullying of teens because of sexual orientation and to support those in our community who need it.

For more information on National Coming Out Day, GSA, or if you would like to pledge your support to the LGBT community, visit the GSA booth during lunch mods in the Warrior Walkway.