We've know each other for so long Your heart's been aching But you're too shy to say it Inside we both know what's been going on We know the game and we're gonna play it
And if you ask me how I'm feeling Don't tell me you're too blind to see
BOULDER, Colo. — With about 10 couples making out around her, University of Colorado sophomore Irene Kern held up a white poster board with a big red heart drawn on it.
Kern, along with other student couples and supporters, gathered outside of the University Memorial Center on Friday for a demonstration entitled, "Make Out Stake Out." The rally gave gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students — and their straight supporters — an opportunity to challenge societal norms of same-sex public displays of affection.
At exactly 11:53 a.m. on the day before Valentine's Day, about 100 gay and straight students gathered around the Dalton Trumbo Fountain on campus. Some couples made out while other people held hands or hugged each other. After two minutes, the students walked off in different directions as if nothing happened.
The event was meant to express their frustration because "same-sex public displays of affection are often treated with less tolerance" than heterosexual displays, according to the organizers' Facebook event page. Kern and her friends organized the event, she said.
"I thought this is necessary to put it in people's faces that same-sex PDA should be viewed the same as heterosexual PDA," Kern said. "It's just very frustrating when you get more looks than heterosexual couples do just because you're partners of the same sex."
To help get the word out, they posted an event page on Facebook, helping the protest gain more support as people heard about it.
"It just started out as 'Hey, this would be cool to do. Why don't we get some people together to do it?'" Kern said.
Jason Palo La Costa, a junior architecture major who came to the event to show his support, said he first heard about the demonstration on Facebook and then heard various people discussing the idea.
"The more I actually heard people talking about it, the more interested I became," he said. "Initially, I wasn't going to come because I don't have a boyfriend right now. Then I was told that people were going to just be hugging and kissing and just come show my support for the numbers. So I thought I would come down."
Brittany Alverson, a junior psychology major who said she's a lesbian, came to the event to raise awareness on campus.
"I think a lot of people don't realize that we are a pretty big demographic on campus," she said. "And this is a really good way of showing that even though it may be somewhat abrupt and offensive to some people, it needs to be done."
to my Birdio Valentinio 
