By By: Mira Costello
Editor
You may have seen fellow students on campus creatively displaying their personal pronouns with enamel pins, buttons and even T-shirts. For those that also wanted to make their pronouns known in style, IU South Bend’s Queer Straight Alliance hosted an event on Oct. 19 for students to craft their own pronoun bracelets.
Choosing from bins of colorful beads and letters, attendees could design their own accessory that doubles as a tool to break stigma about pronouns.
“It’s important for people who are comfortable to share their pronouns, because assuming someone’s gender just doesn’t work in modern society,” Reagan Ayala, QSA president, said. “Not everyone’s pronouns are reflective of their gender identity, and it destigmatizes the culture of hiding one’s gender.”
The event was not only intended for students with diverse or nonbinary gender identities; even cisgender students, who identify with the gender that matches their birth sex, were welcome to make bracelets.
This month, QSA is also looking forward to their clothing drive, “Out of the Closet” (formerly called “Into the Closet”). The drive began on Oct. 18 and will run through Nov. 1. Students are encouraged to donate gently used clothing, shoes, socks and accessories by dropping them off in one of the designated bins, which can be found in Northside, Wiekamp, the Administration Building and the campus housing Community Building.
The drive will provide pieces for the subsequent thrift markets to be held Nov. 9, Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the University Grill. At the markets, students will be able to peruse the donations and thrift any items they like at no cost.
“Last year, Out of the Closet was a huge success. We were able to give out so many clothes to people. It really was one of my favorite things to see,” Ayala said. “This year I hope we have less clothes to donate after it’s over. We already have so many donations, so we’ll definitely have a lot for people to choose from.”
If you are an LGBTQ+ student or are interested in getting involved with the QSA, you can reach them at qsa@iusb.edu.
