This Tuesday, August 31, 2010, Equal's political divsion SAFE (Students Advocating for Equality) brought parents from PFLAG to speak, bringing a Homecoming feel to Equal's second meeting of the semester.  Going down the line, hearing parents speak about not knowing, the surprise and the relief of their children coming out of the closet, several members were moved to tears.

"We didn't even know our son was gay," says formerly conservative Jewish parents Sid and Enid, "it just wasn't a word that occurred to us to describe our son."  One panel member in particular struck the hispanic members extremely hard when Javier, the father of a gay son spoke of how he regardless of his son's sexuality, he would always love him.  After Javier's tear jerking experience, the mother of a genderqueer man told all those in attendance about the guilt a mother goes through, after finding out that they have a gay child, with all the "what did I do? Is this my fault?" questions coming back to "We are going to have to love him even more [if he is going into the world today.]"

The icing on the cake for many was the brief presentation of another mother who knew all along that her son was gay, but finding out through internet chat rooms that he was so deep in the closet to himself that she and her husband had to pull him out for his own safety from the dangerous positions he was in.

Many tears were shed on Tuesday, but many hearts were also uplifted.  Coming out to parents and family are of the most difficult things to do, but the panel members were essential in showing those who are still unsure that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.