Veronica Medina knew for many years that she was a lesbian, but was still married with three children until her mid-30s.
Medina, a 1979 graduate of the School of Social Policy and Practice, was one of five panelists to speak at an intimate discussion last night at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center attended by about a dozen people. Yesterday was National Coming Out Day.
Medina said she felt fortunate to be accepted by her family, even though her parents were quite old by the time she came out.
Although Karima Zedan said she does not recall Penn "being a very gay-friendly place," she also said she ignored the LGBT culture when she attended the University in the late '90s. She has since come back to work as the spokeswoman for the Division of Public Safety.
"I feel really comfortable working here . and being open," Zedan said. "I'm really thrilled to see the place Penn has become."
Ninah Harris said she found Penn such an accepting place that after she graduated in 2001 she came back a year later to work as the LGBT program coordinator.
Harris said she actually came to Penn for its black community. The moment she walked into the LGBT Center changed her life, she said.
"I was lost for a period," Harris said. The LGBT Center was a "comfortable place where you could feel stuff out."
College freshman and panelist Terrence Green came out in high school.
Being gay "wasn't a big deal," he said. "It was just who I was."
Green said that for him, Penn was a "clean slate," and the community here is very open and accepting.
Though people are coming out at younger ages, and the level of acceptance in society has increased over the years, it is still challenging for gay and transgender students to come out, Bob Schoenberg, director of the LGBT Center, said.
"You shouldn't assume that just because it's 2006, [coming out] is easy for everybody," Schoenberg said.
* This article was edited on 3:25 a.m. on Oct. 9.
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