Come one, come all; come gay, come straight – the third annual Big Gay Picnic is open to everyone interested in supporting the LGBT community on campus.

Sponsored by the staff of the University’s LGBT Resource Center, the Big Gay Picnic is scheduled to take place today from 4 – 6 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.

The Ballroom is promised to be covered top to bottom with big, bright decorations and loaded with fun games and useful information, according to event planner and coordinator Annie Russell, who is the doctoral graduate assistant for LGBT Programs and Resources. She said there will be more free food, music and resources than ever before. In addition, there will be door prizes and even a surprise mystery host.

The picnic will serve as a kick-off event for every LGBT student, as well as every LGBT student-run organization on campus. Such organizations include Vision, H.U.E., Transcendence, Queer Grads, and F.O.C.U.S., which are all expected to be present the night of the picnic.

Vision President Rob Koob said he is grateful for this opportunity, not only for his organization, but for every LGBT group.

‘Since we have five organizations that have five very different roles within the LGBT community, it’s great to be able to come together and to be able to show people what these groups can offer,’ he said.

Besides information, fun and friends, the purpose of the Big Gay Picnic is to ‘create a space where a community can come together,’ Russell said.

‘That is what [the picnic] was intended to be and that is what it remains today,’ she said.

Russell also added that this event is not exclusive. No matter a person’s sexual orientation, the LGBT program is always enthusiastic and welcoming to allies (those who support equal rights for LGBT people). She said this event would be a great opportunity for these people to show support or continue to stand by the LGBT community in the fight for equal rights.

The Big Gay Picnic tradition also has individual meaning to those who identify themselves as LGBT.

Karen McLane, 21, a first-year transfer student from Michigan, said that being able to have a place in the LGBT community helps her mend her tattered sense of belonging and acceptance.

‘There is always an ache in your heart to be your true self, but there are people out there who are not okay with homosexuality and who won’t accept you,’ McLane said. ‘The Big Gay Picnic is somewhere I can go where there are allies and people like me, who won’t judge me and who will accept and allow me the freedom to be who I really am.’ ‘