An older woman's jaw visibly dropped. Three girls halted a conversation about the coming fall break to stare, and one male grad student did a complete 180-degree turn.
It isn't every day that two gay men hold hands on Penn's campus, even on the eve of National Coming Out Day, which is being celebrated nationwide today.
On any given afternoon, Jason Chan, a senior in the College, and Kurt Klinger, a staff member at the LGBT Center -- both openly gay, though not dating one another -- would not normally walk through campus with their respective partners.
But yesterday afternoon, the two clasped hands with one another, walked boldly into Penn's midday rush and watched students react to an openly affectionate homosexual couple.
Though most student reactions, many of which were shaded by pairs of dark sunglasses, were slight and occurred only after the two men were far out of ear shot, a collective response, surprise mixed with everything from admiration to disdain, to the hand-holding was distinctly present.
Alexandra Corsi, a College junior, nudged her friends as the couple passed the group of three women standing in front of the Palladium.
"That's the first time I have ever seen two gay guys just openly holding hands like that and expressing their affection for each other," Corsi said. "But I think it's great."
The couple walked up and down Locust Walk several times during the lunch hour rush before proceeding into Houston Hall for a quick bite to eat.
On both Locust Walk and in Houston Hall, the largest discrepancy in reactions was between male and female students. Females generally offered more support for the couple than did males.
A common female response was to turn to friends and point out the couple.
"It's so cute," said Darleen Cafasso, a Nursing senior, to Alison Rogers, also a senior in Nursing, as the two were handing out flyers and ribbons at a table on the Walk.
Lafasso originally pointed the couple out to Rogers, saying "Don't look, they're coming back. I am really impressed that they are doing that."
Many students said that the situation was definitely out of the ordinary.
"It's nice," said Samantha Shuman, a sophomore in the college, "but its surprising. You don't normally see that type of thing on this campus."
Hillary Lazarus, also a sophomore in the College, is from San Francisco and was much less fazed by the two men, saying she sees many more openly gay couples in her hometown.
"In general women are more open-minded about it," Chan said, upon realizing that female responses to the hand holding were much more positive and friendly than males. "They are usually best friends with gay guys. They don't have any masculinity to be threatened."
Though male responses were different from females' and occasionally spoken with a distinctly pensive tone, on the whole, they were not negative.
"I'm cool with it," said Stephen Glazer, a senior in the College, when the two men walked in front of his outdoor table. "I don't think it's that big of a deal."
"Its fine. I'm very fine with it," said another male student whose eyes rested on the couple while taking a respite from his psychology reading. "It's not like I think they shouldn't be allowed to hold hands or anything."
Some male students having lunch in Houston Hall did find the experience disconcerting.
"I don't feel comfortable with that sort of stuff, I wouldn't bash them, not to their faces, but I don't want to see two dudes holding hands," said one male senior who wished to remain anonymous.
Stares and whispers became much more apparent when people were seated in large groups in Houston Market. Numbers seemed to breed discussion as it became increasingly obvious that students were surprised by Chan and Klinger's behavior.
Tables buzzed with conversation about the two men, many uncertain that the couple was for real, believing instead that it was part of some class project.
One table consisting of male and female students entered into a heated debate as the couple walked past them, Chan struggling to hold onto Klinger's hand while juggling a salad and large soda.
Collectively, Klinger said he was pleasantly surprised by the responses, though he wasn't sure he noticed a lot of the nuanced reactions the pair received.
"I'm so oblivious to everything that I barely noticed a thing," Klinger said, who, freshman year, once held hands with his boyfriend at Penn and noticed nothing then either. His boyfriend, however, noticed a distinctly negative reaction.
"I mean, part of me kind of expected someone to yell `fag' or something, or anything. The people today just didn't seem to care."
Chan was also surprised by the lack of a visible reaction, though he noted far more attention was paid to the couple while in Houston Market, where students had more of an opportunity to stare than on Locust Walk where they were rushing to class.
Despite the lack of an outright negative response, Chan would still hesitate to grasp his boyfriend's hand on Locust Walk, citing the few snickers and stares he did receive as his reason for keeping his hands to himself in public.
"It is just something I normally wouldn't do because of things like this," Chan said. "The small responses are enough to make me not want to do it."
