June is the month most people think about when they hear about LGBTQ+ celebration. What some may not know is that October is LGBTQ+ History Month as well. The month is dedicated to learning about queer history, specifically 31 different LGBTQ+ icons for each day of the month.
Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher and UMSL graduate, created LGBTQ+ History Month in 1994. Wilson thought that there needed to be resources showing queer icons in a positive light, which was and still is uncommon, so the month of October has become a month of learning about LGBT+ culture and icons to promote positivity towards the community and a way young queer people can learn about their community.
Saint Louis celebrates the LGBTQ+ community in numerous ways, from pride festivals like STL PrideFest and Tower Grove Pride Festival to having famous “gayborhoods” like The Grove and Soulard. These are fantastic places and events to visit for a safe space to be open and out in an otherwise conservative state.
UMSL provides different resources for the LGBTQ+ community as well. The Pride Alliance is the most active LGBTQ+ student organization on campus. The Pride Alliance works to keep UMSL a safe space for all students. They host activity events and panels highlighting the LGBTQ+ community in an empowering and positive way. The leader of Pride Alliance, Remy Xa sat down with me for an interview about LGBTQ+ History Month and what Pride Alliance is doing during October and beyond.
Xa joined the Pride Alliance in 2023 and became its leader shortly after. Their goal is to keep the LGBTQ+ community relevant on campus and to create resources for students to express themselves, regardless of whether they are in or out of the closet.
Xa’s journey to UMSL is one that many students at UMSL may relate to. Remy went from UMKC to Saint Louis Community College – Meramec, and finally to UMSL in 2023. They had gone to the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference (MBLGTACC) and felt connected with all the other people who attended that year. They also were the president of the STLCC Meramec Queer Student Union during their time there as well in order to make the organization more active.
When Xa started at UMSL in 2023, the existing LGBTQ+ group, Prizm, was inactive. To start some sort of LGBTQ+ organization, they became the leader of the Pride Alliance. Remy loves to make sure everyone in the organization has a role, a voice and some type of skill or memory to take with them when they part ways with the Pride Alliance.
The Pride Alliance has created a new position in the Office of Student Involvement, or OSI, called the Coordinator for LGBTQ+ and Diversity Initiatives. Jairo Javier Morales, one of the Pride Alliance’s advisors, is in charge of this position. Morales has previous experience being involved with campus activities and organizations from their time at STLCC – Florissant Valley.
This year, Morales organized the Inclusive Excellence Mixer on August 29. The mixer included an opportunity to get professional headshots, food and drink and a chance to win a couple of prizes. The event involved multiple organizations and groups, but the entirety of the student body was invited to attend.
Morales is also helping run the events for Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15. The month consisted of fun-filled events for students, such as the Kickoff Event on September 15, Latin dance classes, a Quinceanera Ball and discussion panels.
Morales is making connections with local organizations in the area as well. Vivent Health is one of the new organizations Morales is working with. Vivent Health offers services such as a food pantry, pharmacy, dental care and housing assistance. Another non-profit organization that Morales has been in contact with is Metro Trans Umbrella Group, which also has a food pantry along with a community center and the Transgender Memorial Carden off of Wyoming Street in Saint Louis City. Both organizations were invited to the LGBTQ+ History Month Kickoff that took place on October 2 this year.
The kickoff had panelists share their experiences and answer any questions that attendees may have had about the trans community and trans healthcare, free food and drink, and free t-shirts!
Another large event that happened this month was the National Coming Out Day Panel on October 10. The panel consisted of multiple queer people coming together to share their stories of coming out and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. At this event, OSI, LGBTQ+, Diversity Initiatives and University Television, or UTV, announced their collaboration in creating a documentary of UMSL’s community members’ coming out experiences. Pride Alliance, along with others, will be sending out a form asking queer UMSL community members if they would like to share their stories for the documentary. Participation can named or anonymous.
The last event to celebrate the end of LGBTQ+ History Month is Drag Brunch on Halloween. The OSI has put on this event in years past, but this year, they have decided to take it a step further by adding brunch to the mix. The doors open at 9:30 a.m., with brunch ending at 12 p.m. Everyone is encouraged and welcome to come dressed up in their best Halloween costumes!
Beyond this October, the Pride Alliance is working on other projects. Xa stated that the organization is currently working towards having biweekly meetings to help with organizing future events and hanging out. The organization currently has a discord server that will soon be hosting art nights where people are welcome to create drawings and doodles with each other as well as hosting movie nights.
The Pride Alliance also is planning to host more discussion panels in the future. They are connecting with Tritons United, which is a group that offers different student safety training and relationship management. The Pride Alliance will partner with Tritons United to create seminars on these topics and other LGBTQ+ issues.
Last April, Pride Alliance held the Intergalactic Pride Disco. This event was a “silent disco” which is where individuals wear headphones synced up to the same music but at different volume levels. The event had different genres of music such as 70s, 80s, disco and R&B. The event had a large turnout, and Xa hopes to have more events like this in the future interested in joining the Pride Alliance should go to Triton Connect, and search for the Pride Alliance.
Anyone interested in joining the Pride Alliance can go to Triton Connect, search for the Pride Alliance, and join! The page will give new members access to the organization’s weekly newsletters. Joining the Discord server with the link on the General Channel page will also give members access to voice chat and video calls with other members.
Xa encourages students to join the Pride Alliance as the group is always looking for new members who would like to help plan or create events or tabling. Xa is also more than welcome to new ideas in the organization and would love to hear what new members have to think about and their ideas for the future of the Pride Alliance at UMSL.
