1. What is LU Pride and how can our community get involved?

LU Pride is Lasell University’s Pride club. It's a student-run club and a safe space on campus for everyone. We create a fun atmosphere with lots of events, give space for our members to discuss anything on their mind, and are 100% confidential. To get involved, students can send us a request to join on Laser Involvement, send an email to either me Hannah Paulo or our President Dana Tilton, or pop into one of our on-campus meetings during the semester!

2. What does pride month mean to you?

To me, pride month is a time where the LGBTQ+ community comes together to celebrate each other and the allies that support us. It’s also an important time where we can bring up issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community in order to advocate for change.

3. What does it mean to embrace LGBTQ+ pride?

Embracing LGBTQ+ pride is super simple: You just value that love is love and that this love can be found by people in all sorts of different ways. You support the LGBTQ+ community, even in small ways! You support the people you know who identify as LGBTQ+, and you try to be a supportive ally and advocate for positive change when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community.

5. How did you celebrate pride this month?

To celebrate pride this month, I’ve been catching up on some awesome LGBTQ+ TV shows and movies (like Heartstopper on Netflix and Everything Everywhere All at Once) and just having open conversations with friends and family about pride. It’s also really fun to see some big companies go rainbow for pride, so I’ve definitely been celebrating by picking up some new pride merch too.

6. What resources or supports do you wish our community knew about?

The biggest resource on our campus that is virtually unheard of is the Bias Incident Reporting Form. It’s a way for students to document and get support with any bias incidents they’ve experienced on campus, and can also be filled out anonymously.

7. What are some events that LU Pride runs?

We run all sorts of fun events and are always open to suggestions! One of our biggest is our annual Drag Show, which showcases a bunch of talented drag queens, even featuring some of our own students and alumni. This past year, we also held our first Queer Prom, held for students who may not have gotten one the first time, may not have been out for prom, and for all of the students who just wanted to come dance, eat, and have fun with LU Pride!

8. What is something you would want the Lasell community to know about the LU Pride club?

We are a really fun group of people, and we want more allies to join our club and come to our campus events! We love that we gather a good group of students who identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but we want to encourage other students on campus to come support us and just have a good time. Pride events are for everyone!

9. For those who may not necessarily be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, what are ways they can educate themselves to show support?

There are a couple of ways. First, just keep your listening ears on when it comes to people you know who are a part of the community or when it comes to issues affecting the community. You can learn a lot simply from keeping an open mind and listening. If you’re looking for websites to visit in order to learn more, I recommend GLSEN, GLAAD, The Trevor Project, and the Human Rights Campaign.

10. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, how can students be better allies to other marginalized groups within the LGBTQ+ community?

Listening is my biggest tip for being a good ally. You can’t help if you don’t know what the issue is! Also, get involved as much as you can and become an advocate for marginalized groups. Use your voice to empower yours, because that extra power always helps.