What’s the only day where a student can pick up free condoms, have their picture taken in a giant painting of a vagina, enter a vulva coloring contest, read sex bloopers from other students and play with larger-than-life sex organs? The answer: the annual Sex Out Loud Health Awareness Fair at the Illini Union.

“It all started with our giant vagina,” said Trisha Pruis, senior in LAS and president of Feminist Majority, the student group that organizes event.

“There are a lot of phallic symbols in society, and we wanted to put a vaginal one out there,” Pruis said about the giant vagina structure that students paid a dollar to stick their head in and have their picture taken at last year’s Sex Out Loud on March 18. “After that, we thought ‘Let’s have a sex fair!’

“It makes sex and sexuality less taboo and gets people to understand,” she said. “In our country, sex is not talked about. It’s important for students to understand and know their bodies and their options. It’s just about being comfortable with sex.”

Pruis said the great response to the 2003 fair made the Feminist Majority decide to do it again for a second year, but with more tables. While a large majority of the tables set up at last year’s fair were run by students, there were also booths from McKinley, Planned Parenthood, the Counseling Center and local churches.

Susan Kazmierczak, graduate coordinator for the office of LGBT concerns, said the conflicting viewpoints of organizations that set up booths are beneficial to students.

“It’s important that we have all viewpoints, even if people don’t agree with us, so we can respect each other and help each other understand,” she said. “It’s all about respect and a safe place to discuss sexuality.”

Kazmierczak said the fair was also about celebrating sexuality.

“People in college are having sex, so we are giving them the opportunity to talk about it and educate them and let them know it’s okay to say ‘I love sex,'” she said.