This Sunday is National Coming Out Day, but the LGBT Resource Center is celebrating a little early.

Labeled “National Coming Out Day (Observed),” the center is conducting the “Do Ask, Do Tell” sticker campaign.

Interested students, faculty and staff can go to the LGBT office, located on the seventh floor of the Holmes Student Center, to get stickers that can be worn on a shirt, a sleeve, or attached to a backpack. The sticker identifies the wearer as LGBT-friendly.

Margie Cook, director of the LGBT resource center, said that distributing stickers is an easy way for people to get involved without taking too much time out of their day.

“Stickers are an easy way to do a visibility campaign,” Cook said. “People can get a sticker and go about their day.”

Any LGBT-friendly person on campus is welcome to pick up and display the sticker.

“You don’t have to be gay to participate,” Cook said. “Anyone can wear the stickers as a sign of support for the LGBT community.”

Last year, the center distributed around 800 stickers overall. This year, the center has ordered 1,000, and has already distributed around 700 of those to certified allies across campus.

“National Coming Out Day is very important to show that LGBT people exist and that we’re here,” said Mack Lewis II, sophomore sociology major. “It opens up a dialogue and gives us an opportunity to turn ignorance into understanding.”

Although the campaign’s title is a play on the military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military, Cook points out that the event is not politically motivated.

“It’s moreso just a play on words,” Cook said. “It’s not targeted toward military policy.”

However, the event is intended to address the attitude such policy represents, said Cook.

“People should be able to be themselves or be openly gay without fear,” said Cook.

Students are encouraged to take photos of themselves and friends displaying the stickers and send them to the center to be used in an online photo gallery celebrating the event.

“It’s a message that should get out there and start those dialogues,” said Elijah Itah, a counseling graduate student and student worker in the Resource Center. “It will make a difference.”

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