Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
UTRGV is observing LGBTQ+ History Month with films and activities that educate about and celebrate the community.
In 1994, an openly gay high school teacher in Missouri started the recognition of October as LGBT History Month. He wanted to celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ+ community, said Gabriel Sanchez, president of the South Texas Equality Project, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.
“The idea was just to preserve and celebrate LGBTQ history, and to celebrate the accomplishments that we’ve made as a community because our history is not often taught,” Sanchez said. “We don’t typically learn about LGBTQ+ history or heroes of the LGBTQ+ movements for civil rights.”
When schools do teach about people who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, they often leave out that piece of information, said Sanchez, who is also a co-director of “Pansy Pachanga,” an upcoming documentary about the history of the Valley’s LGBTQ+ community.
“When we do learn about people who are queer or who are part of the LGBTQ community, we don’t often learn about that part of their identity,” he said. “It was just a way to start to commemorate and celebrate that history.”
Other parts of the world celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month during October, including Canada and Australia, and it’s a different event from Pride Month, which is in June, Sanchez said.
“People sometimes don’t understand why we have two months, but my take on it is June is really just celebrating our identity in our community and where we are right now as a community,” he said. “LGBTQ+ History Month is more about celebrating, and recognizing and honoring the people who came before.”
National Coming Out Day is observed on Oct. 11.
“It’s an opportunity for people who are LGBTQI+ to have a day where they can come out and share their identity with other people in their lives who might not be aware,” Sanchez said.
The observance originated in the late 1980s in response to the AIDS crisis and served to let people know that there are many LGBTQ+ people around them, he said.
“A lot of LGBTQ activists realized that one of the best ways to fight homophobia was to let people know that they knew more gay people, or bi people or queer people than they thought and that coming out was actually a radical act because you were owning your identity instead of hiding it,” Sanchez said.
The Student Union hosted its annual United Union last Thursday to celebrate National Coming Out Day, with Aaron Hinojosa, coordinator for UTRGV’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion, serving as the event’s moderator.
The Superhero Project, Leadership and Mentoring, Health Services, Career Services, the Student Equality Alliance and student organizations Student Equality Alliance and Out in STEM provided presentations and available resources to LGBTQ+ students during the United Union.
“I feel really proud about the variety of presentations,” said Mabel Cortina Matos, Student Union program manager.
After the presentations, attendees moved to Kanopy, a video streaming service, to view “The Mask We Live In,” a movie about toxic masculinity. Attendees could chat during the movie via Zoom, and a discussion and Q&A session were held after the film ended.
“We want our students to know that we encourage them, we celebrate them,” Cortina Matos said. “Once they’re actually out, we want to support them. This is the Student Union showing up for them and making sure that they have resources all the way through their process.”
For National Coming Out Day, Campus Activities Board hosted a Drag Queen Bingo last Friday.
Leadership and Social Change also hosted a Netflix Watch Party last Friday to show “Moonlight” in honor of LGBTQ+ History Month after Career Service’s LGBTQ+ Show Your Colors at Work Virtual Panel.
Leadership and Social Change will also show “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” this Friday and “Alex Strangelove” on Oct. 23.
The movies were chosen to not only educate students on the LGBTQ+ community, but also “provide them an opportunity to see themselves, if they are LGBT students, on the screen,” said Raul Leal, a program coordinator for Leadership and Social Change.
“If they’re not LGBT students, [they will] be able to see what some of the struggles LGBT individuals might have,” Leal said.
To attend, students must RSVP through VLink. The first 30 students to RSVP will receive a movie packet, which contains candy and microwavable popcorn, that can be picked up at Leadership and Social Change’s offices in Student Union 1.28 on the Brownsville campus or University Center 205 on the Edinburg campus, he said.
Leadership and Social Change has also created a Spotify playlist that celebrates LGBTQ+ artists, Leal said.
“[Students] can add their own music with LGBTQ+ artists and just be able to listen to those songs together,” he said.
LGBTQ+ History Month is important to celebrate because it provides exposure to the discrimination that LGBTQ+ people face, said John Goins, a history lecturer who has conducted research on LGBT history.
“If we were to stop talking about it and exposing other people to this, and the importance of them in our society, then things would not continue to improve,” Goins said. “We’ve still got problems with discrimination, and we need to work on that. The best way to work on that is education and exposure.”
The UTRGV community can further support the LGBTQ+ community this month by participating in Ally Safe Zone Training, which is hosted by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Participants can receive a sticker that states “UTRGV Ally,” and professors can place it on their office doors, said Cathryn Merla-Watson, co-director of Gender and Women’s Studies.
“This kind of visibility is really important because it shows support and solidarity for our queer community,” Merla-Watson said.
