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This week a number of student groups will host events aimed at increasing the visibility of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at UCLA.

Art, live performances, a barbecue and a resource fair are among the events comprising National Coming Out Week, which organizers say they hope will strengthen the LGBT community’s presence on campus and make all students – regardless of their sexual orientation – feel comfortable at UCLA.

Faced with the social stigma that is attached to being a member of the LGBT community, students often are afraid to come out and admit their sexual orientation, said Ronni Sanlo, director of the LGBT Resource Center at UCLA.

Students come out at the LGBT center on a daily basis, she said.

“Every day there’s somebody that comes (to the LGBT center) with their heart just hanging out. ... (They are) very, very afraid of just being in their own skin.”

The events of National Coming Out Week are meant to serve as a reminder to students that the LGBT community exists at UCLA, Sanlo said.

“It provides the visibility for students, and faculty and staff to be very aware that they’re not alone,” she said.

Wednesday marks the 18th celebration of National Coming Out Day, when thousands of people across the nation come together and show their support for the LGBT community.

On the UCLA campus, students recognize the day in various ways.

Scott Nass, a student at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, chose to send an e-mail to his entire freshman class on National Coming Out Day last year after he realized he was the only self-identifying LGBT student in his class of more 150.

“For members of the LGBT community, including gay men like me, National Coming Out Day is a time to celebrate ourselves and the courage, faith, hope and love that were all required to make the leap of faith from living in the closet and lying to ourselves and others about who we were and who we were born to be, to living out and proud as fully functional members of society ‘despite’ our LGBT status,” part of his e-mail read.

Nass went on to briefly describe his struggle to come out first to himself and then to his family, friends, fraternity brothers and girlfriend at the end of his undergraduate education.

While most students will not necessarily come out to their whole class, organizers of the events hope the week will help students who are questioning their sexuality feel more comfortable on campus.

Vernon Rosario, a professor in the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior who works with LGBT patients through a private practice, said the benefits of coming-out events are twofold. Studies show that not only do members of the LGBT community feel more comfortable with themselves once they’ve come out, but the general population’s perception of the LGBT community has also improved since it has become more visible.

“People’s opinion of gay people improves based on personal contact and experience with them. They are much more comfortable with homosexuality if they know their neighbors, coworkers, children or parents are gay,” he said.

Nowadays, college is a common – and beneficial – time for people to come out, said Gregory Cason, a UCLA alumnus and practicing psychologist who has studied many issues pertaining to homosexuality.

“College is a time of transition and a time of identity development. In college, you are going from the person that you were under your parents’ roof ... and developing into the person you’re going to be under your own roof,” he said.

Activities associated with National Coming Out Week provide positive role models and important resources to aid in the process of coming out. Often, people who can “pass” as straight choose to keep their true sexual orientation hidden until college, and a visible LGBT community can “help them in tremendous ways that aren’t always readily apparent,” Cason said.

On the other hand, many people live in situations in which it would be dangerous for them to come out.

“Not everyone is in a position where they can be out safely. Research shows that for some teens it’s a disadvantage to come out early. ... They could get kicked out of their house or beaten up,” Rosario said.

Oct. 11, 1988 was the first National Coming Out Day. At the time, the LGBT community was suffering from public discrimination from their perceived link with HIV/AIDS – which was, until 1982, called Gay-Related Immune Deficiency.

“In the early ’80s ... people assumed if you are gay, you are a disease carrier,” said Cason, who was the national coordinator for the first National Coming Out Day.

The first Coming Out Day was celebrated in 18 states and featured an AIDS memorial quilt in Washington D.C. In the following years, National Coming Out Day celebrations have spread to all 50 states.