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Ernesto Nodado, a third-year microbiology student, prepares a sign for today's coming out festival.

“I’m so gay, I can’t think straight.” Phrases like this, scrawled in chalk all around campus, make many students aware of National Coming Out Day.

The day commemorates Oct. 11, 1987 when half a million people marched on Washington for gay and lesbian equality.

Today, events are taking place all over the country, and a benefit CD featuring songs of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender musicians will be released from the Human Rights Campaign.

A week of activities at UCLA culminates today, as six student groups that form the Queer Alliance treat the UCLA campus to a carnival- style festival.

“We want people to have fun and appreciate where we’re coming from. It’s not just education we’re about, it’s also about creating a fun environment on campus through collaboration,” said Faith Cheltenham, a fifth-year history student and co-chair of BlaQue, one of the student groups hosting the festival.

In order to accomplish their goal, the Queer Alliance will have a “Dunk the Homophobe” dunk tank, an “Escape the Closet” velcro wall, kissing booths, a D.J., carnival games and resources available to students.

The alliance invited many organizations on campus to come set up a table during the festival, including fraternities and sororities, which have been supportive of LGBT issues by hosting hate crime programming, planners said.

“We definitely wanted to reach out because they have shown incredible spirit,” Cheltenham said of the Greek System.

Groups in the surrounding communities are also invited to partake in the festivities, and many businesses, such as Zone d’ Amour in Westwood, have donated prizes.

Cooperation has been key in the planning and realization of this event.

The Queer Alliance was officially started this year, and has worked well together, members said. They started planning for this week in August, said Jwo Lee, a publicist for GALA, , one of the six student groups in the alliance.

“The separate groups are necessary, but now we have a way to help each other and know what other groups are doing,” Lee said.

Ronni Sanlo, the director of the LGBT Campus Resource Center, said this event is “wonderful, and provides students with the opportunity to see resources that are available to them.”

The LGBT Campus Resource Center will have an information table at the festival and pass out free condoms.

Not everyone is supportive of National Coming Out Day, and will make it know at the festival, organizers said. Every year, protesters from around the country show up to oppose the celebration.

“We respect free speech, as always, but the whole point of National Coming Out Day is for people to come out of the closet, and it’s kind of hard to do that when someone is screaming at you that you’re going to hell,” Cheltenham said.

The alliance has found an interesting way to deal with this problem.

Starting last year they set up a lemonade stand where people can pledge money for every minute the protesters stay, and then donate the proceeds to a charity.

“If they’re going to be there anyway we may as well make some good out of it,” said the political and programming chair for GALA, Roy Samaan.

This festival will be followed by a closing reception at Bradley International Center from 8 to 12 p.m.

Sanlo said much has been accomplished on campus regarding LGBT issues, but there is still a great deal to do.