USC

USC celebrates the legacy of the LGBTQ+ community on campus

The Spirit Day event highlights LGBTQ+ history while bringing the community together.

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Paul C. Ballard wears a USC Pride t-shirt as he poses with a student at the LGBTQ+ Spirit Day event. (Photo by Olivia Hau)

When Paul C. Ballard was a student at USC in the ‘80s, being gay was not widely accepted, even though it had been legal in the state since 1976.

“It was not still approved and legal in people’s minds,” he said. “They’ve grown up their whole lives thinking that being gay is illegal.”

This led Ballard, who graduated in 1985, to push the university to allow LGBTQ+ clubs and student organizations. Today, Ballard’s legacy was on full display as students, organizations and alumni gathered by Tommy Trojan to celebrate the history of the LGBTQ+ community at USC.

Featuring tote bag decorating and free cookies, the LGBTQ+ Spirit Day event aimed to educate those who attended about the community’s history as part of the university’s larger LGBTQ+ History Month celebrations.

“The need for community is so real, and it provides such a great community, especially at events like these,” said Ren Barker, a sophomore involved in several organizations that support queer people on campus. “It helps find acceptance in yourself and others.”

Also in attendance was the One Archives team, the oldest and largest queer archive in the world, which aims to not only protect queer materials but also make them accessible to students and researchers.

“Right now, we’re going through a lot of political turmoil in the country, and a lot of it is focused right now on specifically trans individuals and really targetting the LGBTQ community,” said Quetzal Arevalo, a curatorial assistant for One Archives. “It’s a part of our mission to continue to make our own history accessible, so that we can continue to provide evidence to our own history and existence within the US and otherwise.”

The event also featured a booth for USC’s Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (EEO-TIX), which strives to support students experiencing discrimination, harassment and retaliation at the university and educate the community on these issues.

“Whenever there’s a chance for us to celebrate diversity here at the university, I’m gonna step in and make sure that our department is represented,” said Ray Delgado, the director of communications and marketing for EEO-TIX.

As a former USC student, Delgado said it’s his goal to provide current students with resources he did not have access to during his time at USC.

“We definitely want to support all of these different types of events that are happening throughout the years, show our support for students, staff and faculty, and let people know that we’re here to support them,” Delgado said.

Some students who attended the event said they were there to connect with the larger LGBTQ+ community and resources available.

“I’m here mostly just for personal safety and acceptance,” Rachel Birney, a graduate student pursuing a PhD in physics, said. “But, also, to be able to organize for political reasons, just to make sure we’re all still safe in the future.”

Others, like computer science masters student Tejas Mahajan, said they were there to continue building support for the community.

“From the country that I come from, it took us time to actually accept this entire community,” Mahajan said.  “But now things have changed a lot, and this is how I build this kind of support.”.

Ballard, who came down from northern California for the event, said so much has changed at the university since he was a student, a sign that things can change.

“If we can change USC, we can help change the world regarding this topic,” he said. “And we did.”