Erinn Finley
Staff Writer
[email protected]

The Pride Center and Alliance are both working to bring the community together during Pride History Month through events and encouragement of self-expression.

The Pride Center has celebrated expression throughout the month of October, said Abigail Cox, the interim coordinator of the Pride Center. 

“Expressing pride and support through the Pride List and celebrating gender expression through our clothing and makeup events,” Cox said. “We want to provide the community with safe spaces to express their identity.”

A display of important historical figures, such as Frida Kahlo and Bayard Rustin, is installed outside of the Pride Center. 

Alliance provides support and social activities for LGBTQ students and allies. They sometimes partner with the Pride Center or attend events at the Pride Center. This month, they celebrated by partnering with the Pride Center to provide pronoun and Pride flag buttons. 

Buczek-Langham said this month’s significance to Alliance is that they have the ability to be present on Murray State’s campus. 

“There was a time when this club wouldn’t have had a place on campus and we now have the honor of celebrating our true selves every week with our allies and other members of the community,” Bukzek-Langham said. 

 The Pride Center employees also work to support safe spaces, which allies across Murray State provide for the students. A safe space is a place where people can be sure they won’t be exposed to discrimination, critisicm or any other emotional or physical harm. There is Safety Zone training being offered through Zoom for those interested in creating safe spaces. 

Cox said through the Safe Space program, conversations and collaborations, they want to build a network of support across the University. 

 “We want the Pride Center to be a space that students study, socialize, eat lunch, relax between classes, etc.,” Cox said. “We want to be a gathering place for the community.” 

 Alliance members also have the goal of bringing the community together and to preserve authenticity for LGBTQ identities. 

 Cox said their LGBTQ community received a tremendous amount of support during COVID-19, which was evidenced in the Pride List. 

 The Pride List is a record that anyone affiliated with the University can sign. The purpose of the list is to give people a chance to show their support for the LGBTQ community at Murray State. 

 Cox said numerous faculty, staff and administrators have reached out to support and help what the Pride Center is doing. 

 “COVID has been a reset for us all in many ways, allowing us to reevaluate and do things differently,” Cox said. “For the Pride Center, we started with listening to our students. We sent out an interest survey that 49 students completed. We have used that information to shape what we are doing this year.” 

 As a social group, Alliance members host activities such as tie dye, bowling and movie nights. Buczek-Langham said the group focuses on hosting outdoor activities when possible or events in large indoor spaces. 

 “Our members are overjoyed that we can finally meet back in person once again and that is something we look forward to continuing,” Buczek-Langham said. 

 Currently, Alliance has beanies and T-shirts for sale in the Pride Center. The proceeds go towards funding future Alliance meetings. 

For more information, visit @msualliance28 or @msu_lgbt on Instagram.