With the addition of two new groups, Confetti and Prism, LGBT+ students now have the opportunity to find community on all four of the main ASU campuses.
Confetti and Prism, on the downtown Phoenix and Polytechnic campuses respectively, are the two newest LGBT+ organizations at ASU. Before 2017, only the Tempe and West campuses had their own groups.
Confetti was started in January 2017 by the president of the group, La’Tithea Gay, a sophomore majoring in social work. Gay said she started the organization so students on the downtown campus would not have to travel to Tempe to be involved with the LGBT+ community at ASU.
Gay said her goal for the group is to create a safe space for students, as well as an opportunity to educate students on LGBT+ identities and issues.
“We are definitely a really diverse group. There’s a lot of different members,” Gay said. “We have a few allies who are a part of Confetti as well, so it’s not just a group for LGBT students.”
She said she started the group with the help of two friends: Selena Luna, a criminal justice sophomore who is now vice president of the club, and Tyler Teachman, a criminal justice sophomore who is now the secretary.
“I had never been a part of an LGBT group. Where I’m from, there wasn’t one at my high school,” Teachman said. “I said I would be interested in joining a group, but I looked at Rainbow Coalition and was like 'Tempe is too scary.'"
Tyler said in her hometown, being LGBT+ was never discussed and that she was not aware of the LGBT+ community before high school, so she was interested in joining a group at ASU.
"Being gay or lesbian isn't something that's super talked about...I personally had never known anyone who was until I got to high school," she said.
This semester, the group has hosted events on the Downtown campus including a pool party at the SDFC, an ice cream social and a BBQ in Civic Space Park. It also partook in Pride Week, including a tie dying event, a film screening of the documentary “Gender Revolution” and a Q&A about sex and gender.
The group is also planning to repeat some events during the spring semester and is hoping to put on its own drag show like the one held at the SDFC earlier this semester.
According to Connor Poulin, an applied biology sophomore and the president and founder of Prism, he decided to start the group at the Polytechnic campus because, just like Confetti, he saw it as an opportunity to have an LGBT+ community without having to go all the way to Tempe.
“I was just really surprised that (an LGBT+ group) didn’t exist out here,” Poulin said. “I’ve seen a lot of benefit from groups like this in the past.”
Prism held a “National Coming Out Day Ice Cream Social” during Pride Week, but Poulin said the group hasn’t held many events this semester because it's still trying to get organized and get students involved. He said the club plans to hold more in the future.
He also said that as the club becomes more established, the leadership will shape the goals and activities of the group to coincide with what the members are interested in doing, whether that be activism or just creating a space to connect.
"I guess it will just go in whatever direction the members are most interested in," Poulin said. "For now, it's just kind of a friendly space for people to hang out."
Since its creation, Poulin said the group has focused on creating a sense of community on its campus.
“So far, it seems like most people are interested in social activities with a little bit of outreach,” Poulin said.
Confetti is planning on hosting events later this semester for the OUT@ASU Trans Awareness Week on Nov. 13-20, including a friends-giving, a film screening of “The Danish Girl” and a vigil in remembrance of transgender individuals who have died this year.
Students can learn more about LGBT+ groups at ASU here.
Reach the reporter at abpotter@asu.edu and follow @abpotter4 on Twitter.
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