Jack Abbot- General Reporter
LQBTQIA+ Prism hosted a bake sale on March 19 to raise funds for their future club activities and events.
This event will help to raise funds for their club but is also intended to raise awareness for their activities as well as the presence of the LGBTQ+ community on campus.
“It’s important just to be visible,” club president and social work major Mellody Massaquoi, a senior said.
Events such as these allow LGBTQ+ students to make their presence on campus known and create a welcoming environment. LGBTQIA+ Prism hosts many different events with this goal in mind.
The “Drag Ball” is the largest event that they host. Drag Queens and Kings from across the state attend to perform. The event helps to raise money for “A Place to Nourish Your Health,” which is an organization that provides health services such as testing, birth control and financial aid to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The event will take place on April 1 and occurs annually.
Currently, the organization has 60 registered members, and events such as this help to bring awareness to their group.
“We have, again obviously, our ‘Drag Ball,’ which is a big event, but then we also have smaller events. We do Kahoots; we have karaoke; we have arts and crafts” Massaquoi said. “We just try to have nice, fun events for our students.”
Massaquoi decided to participate in LQBTQIA+ Prism because she wanted to help promote a safe and comfortable space for LGBTQ+ students on campus.
“Other than Prism, we have SAGE, which is the biggest LGBTQ resource on campus,” Massaquoi said. “They also have their own office on campus, and they can connect you to many, many services that are around New Haven.”
According to Massaquoi, ensuring that the university’s policies are centered around making the campus feel safer should be a priority.
“I just want Southern to be more inclusive,” Massaquoi said. “LGBTQ+ is a very broad identity, and it affects so many different walks of life ,and I want Southern to be more inclusive of that. And I hope, in the future, Southern becomes better.”
Massaquoi expressed that the goal of her organization is to help make the university feel safer but noted their limitations as a club.
“We do what we can, but we’re students,” Massaquoi said. “I think they’re OK, but I think they could be better because we’re students. We do what we can, but it really is up to administration.”
