Mason Galemore
Contributing Writer
mgalemore@murraystate.edu
The Murray State University Alliance has planned many special events in which students can participate in celebrating LGBTQ+ pride. Because of Pride Month being in June, when most students are not in class, the MSU Alliance decided to host the events in March.
On Tuesday, March 2, Alliance hosted an LGBTQ+ Trivia Night using Kahoot on Zoom with the Honors College. The leader of MSU Alliance, senior biology major Kearby Stiles, said trivia night was a fun experience for everyone.
“Sharing the knowledge and playing trivia with both our regular members and new members from the Honors College was a great way to connect and learn about LGBTQ+ facts, history, and flags,” Stiles said.
On Tuesday, March 9, Alliance continued activities with their Trivia Murder Party 2 event. Players took turns answering random trivia questions to advance in the game. If they answered incorrectly, they had to play a minigame for their character to survive and continue playing.
Other players participated as the audience, answering questions and guessing what characters would not survive the minigames. The first player to reach the end had to answer a final set of trivia questions in order to escape and win.
On Tuesday, March 16, MSU Alliance will be hosting an Art and LGBTQ+ Media Representation event on Zoom. Stiles said they wanted to have an event where participants could relax, create art and have conversations via zoom.
“We will be sending LGBTQ+ pride coloring sheet PDFs to those who register, so people can print them out to color or just draw something of their own,” Stiles said. “While we color and draw, we will be having an open discussion where everyone can share and talk about their favorite media with LGBTQ+ representation.”
Stiles said these events go hand in hand with Women’s History month.
“Women’s history and Pride go together because there are women that are LGBTQ+,” Stiles said. “You cannot fully recognize and celebrate women’s history without including LGBTQ+ women and you cannot recognize and celebrate LGBTQ+ pride without including women.”
Stiles also explained the importance of transgender women and that they are frequently excluded during Women’s History Month.
“It is really important to recognize LGBTQ+ women, especially trans women, in women’s history because they are historically left out and currently excluded by some feminists,” Stiles said.
Even though these events celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, Stiles encourages everyone to participate even if they are unfamiliar or do not identify as LGBTQ+. He explained that everyone is different and there is so much diversity that participating can lead to a better understanding of people.
“For those that are not familiar with the LGBTQ+ community, I would encourage them to be open and learn about other people’s experiences.” Stiles said. “Alliance is meant for LGBTQ+ students and allies, so anyone wanting to come and show their support is more than welcome.”
More information about the events being hosted to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride and Women’s History Month can be found at murraystate.edu by searching “LGBT Programming” in the search bar.