With rainbow flags waving in the wind, students and community members marched through the streets of Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s (TAMUK) campus celebrating the LGBTQA+ community at TAMUK’s Second Annual Pride Festival.
TAMUK Pride Fest is an event put on by TAMUK Unity, a student organization whose purpose is to promote the interests of the LGBTQA+ community all while creating a sense of belonging and a safe space.
For this reason, TAMUK Unity hosted its second Pride Festival with more activities and participants.
“Our goal is just to advocate and provide a safe place, that’s just our mission and so with that we want to improve…it’s nice to have students come out and know that there is a place for them and there is a place that’s accepting for them,” the TAMUK Unity President Trisha Garcia said.
This year’s festival was held on Friday, April 20. The event began with a march during which students and other members of the community gathered at the pavilion outside of the Memorial Student Union Building.
From there, individuals with rainbow flags and colorful makeup marched around College Hall, through the streets of the campus and ended at Mesquite Grove for a night filled with food, guest speakers, music and performances from Hause De Loca Drag Queens Leona Loca, Corona Rivera and Envy Von Chic.
One guest speaker at the event was Will Stridde, a TAMUK alumn who spoke about “LGBT History from 1980 to the present.” During his talk, students gathered around the stage at Mesquite Grove and asked questions on LGBTQA+ history topics they were interested in learning more about.
This was Stridde’s second year speaking at TAMUK Pride Fest after being asked by the 2017 President of TAMUK Unity after coming to the conclusion that young people in the LGBTQA+ community do not always know their history. For Stridde, it was exciting to see more people attend the festival.
“I’m really excited that it grew from last year. So not only am I proud… that they’re having events, [but] they’re having annual Pride events,” Stridde said.
The final guest speaker of the night was Dr. Claudia Arambula. She told her story of teaching at a high school level and connecting with LGBTQA+ students, her research on the LGBTQA+ community and education for her dissertation, and her personal experiences with having LGBTQA+ children.
“I am here today to tell you that it fills my heart to know that here at Texas A&M University-Kingsville Pride has finally gotten to this University and even though we are a small crowd this is only the beginning,” Arambula said.
For some students at the festival, the Pride march and other activities of the night was a place where they felt safe expressing themselves.
“I just felt like it would feel good to still be with a group of people that are like me and I know for a fact won’t judge me for who I am,” Alessandra Ramirez, a Music Education major said. And, by having a Unity group on campus and a Pride Festival, Briana Heskett, a Music Education major, feels more comfortable and accepted.
“It’s just so much more empowering to know that there are other people that will support you and that are similar to you and you can relate to them and be comfortable with them,” Heskett said.