Amid anxiety over the upcoming visit of the Rev. Fred Phelps, a nationally known anti-homosexual minister, Queer Visibility week kicked off "fabulously" Saturday with the Red and White Ball at Rackham Auditorium.

"It was a really wonderful dance," said Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs Commission co-chair James Leija. About 150 people attended the ball, he said.

Among the upcoming "Q-vis" week events will be a Health Education and Awareness Fair for the LGBT community this Thursday sponsored by Lifestyle Condoms. The fair will feature free condoms and health information from groups such as the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, the HIV Ann Arbor Resource Center and the Medical School.

"We want this to be about total health, not just safe sex," said LGBT co-chair Ben Conway. "We are striving for positive, affirming events."

The week will finish up Friday with the annual Kiss-in and rally on the Diag at noon.

Members of the Q-vis caucus attended a peace-keeper training seminar this weekend, in response to claims that Phelps will attend the rally with about 15 picketers.

"We"re prepared for the possibility of protest," Leija said. The seminar educated them on how to diffuse violent situations without police intervention in hope of keeping the Kiss-in "a very positive, peaceful, and celebratory event," Leija said.

Phelps" inflammatory rhetoric against homosexuals has been known to cause violence at his protests.

"We"re going to do a little gospel preaching about the fags that you got operating up on your campus," Phelps said yesterday. "Your campus has a big colony of fags and dykes."

Conway said the strategy in handling Phelps is to ignore him, though there is concern that other student groups not allied with the Q-vis caucus will give in to Phelps" antagonizing.

"Because of the rhetoric that has already taken place, this has the potential to be a more heated event," said Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown. "We want to ensure that the event does not turn violent and that both sides can voice their issues."

Officers will be present at the rally, Brown said.

Phelps" church, Westboro Baptist of Topeka, Kan., commonly pickets not only funerals of homosexuals but also campuses with "militant homosexual agendas" in hopes that "fags don"t come there any more," Phelps said.

Phelps" visit to campus has stirred other students groups into action as well. Campus Crusade for Christ approached LGBT to reduce the ever-present tension between the two groups and discuss Phelps.

"Our primary purpose was to establish more of a relationship with LGBT," said SNRE senior Annie Mitchell. "We wanted to let them know that his position on homosexuality was not what we believe and was not representative of Christian groups on campus."

LGBT members encourage the rest of campus to join them in their no-response tactic against Phelps.

"Our response is in our celebration," Leija said.