Queer Fall Fling kicks off year for LGBTQ
Event gave students an opportunity to find community, get involved.
Published Aug. 28, 2009
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Paul Reeves chats with Luke Udstuen and Natasha Gunkel during the Queer Fall Fling at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Resource Center on Thursday. The fling was the first event of the year for the resource center and the Multicultural Center.
The LGBTQ Resource Center and the Multicultural Center hosted the Queer Fall Fling on Thursday night.
For two hours, students who identify as part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning community or an ally were able to play video games, socialize and eat pizza in a safe, non-judgmental environment, LGBTQ Resource Center coordinator Ryan Black said.
"The purpose of the Queer Fall Fling is to make sure that new students who identify as LGBTQ develop relationships and make them aware that LGBTQ is on campus and available to them," Black said.
The resource center, which was founded in 1995, serves as a safe place for LGBTQ community members and as a reminder they are neither alone nor invisible while at MU, Black said.
"I see so many people here from different backgrounds and this is a safe place for them to go where people won't judge them for who they are," he said.
The Queer Fall Fling was a good opportunity for people in the LGBTQ community to find out what's going on in the community and get involved, ShOUT Magazine Editor-in-Chief Zac Rose-Heim said.
"We want to make sure that our LGBTQ students feel safe on campus and make an outlet so they can come and share common experiences," Rose-Heim said.
Junior Keri Smith attended the Fall Fling as a way to meet other people in the community and to socialize with friends she already knows.
"It's important that we have events like this because for someone like me I didn't have anything like LGBTQ in high school and coming to college it was the first time I got to meet other individuals like myself," Smith said.
Sophomore Allison Braun said she came to the Fling as a way to get involved in the community on campus.
"We do need this kind of thing, especially for kids who are questioning and trying to figure themselves out," Braun said.
Triangle Coalition and Allies in Action also helped plan the event, Rose-Heim said.