Student drag performers, DJs, various campus organizations and student assemblies gathered in McCarthy Quad for PrideFest on Friday to kick off LGBTQ+ History Month.
The month was formally established in 1995 to highlight LGBTQ+ achievements. It has since grown to become an acknowledgment of the ongoing challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual communities.
It also coincides with days of celebration — including National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 and International Pronouns Day on Oct. 18 — making it both a month of awareness and festivities.
A driving force of USC’s celebration lies within the LGBTQ+ Student Center, located on the fourth floor of the Student Union building. The center itself was recently expanded and acts as a safe space for queer and transgender students to connect with the community, attend programs and “weekly spaces” for discussions ad gatherings.
“We try and create a home-away-from-home environment,” said Megan van der Toorn, who acts as the director of student equity and inclusion for intercultural services at the LGBTQ+ student center.
Van der Toorn said students will be able to attend over a dozen events held by the center this month. These include partnering with Asian Pacific American Student Services for students to make friendship bracelets and working with Friends of Sappho, an LGBTQ+ apparel store to celebrate International Lesbian Day.
“All of our programs as the LGBTQ+ student center are open to all students. So we invite folks to come connect with folks, learn more about other identities that maybe they don’t hold,” van der Toorn said. “Every program that we do… is an opportunity to make a big campus much smaller for folks to find their community of support.”
Some students may express confusion about the difference between Pride Month, which takes place in June, and LGBTQ+ History Month in October.
Pride Month is a celebration of queer and transgender identities while LGBTQ+ History Month is an exploration of the community’s history. Van der Toorn explained that while Pride Month is recognized and celebrated by USC in June, there are not many students on campus during that time.
“We really do the heavy student programmatic lift and celebration in the month of October, which is filled with all these [individual identity] days,” Van der Toorn said.
Additional details about the events taking place this month can be found here. The calendar will be updated with events later this week.