Halloween party collaboration brings together queer organizations

Peggy Stansbery, Spectrum Editor

VCU queer organizations co-host events that create space for queer students to celebrate who they are, said Caroline Perez, treasurer of the Triangle Club, the largest VCU queer organization. 

Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, PRISM, Triangle Club and oSTEM collaborated together to host Out of This World: A Queer Halloween Celebration on Oct. 28 in the VCU University Student Commons, according to RamsConnect. The event included drag performers, a DJ, a costume contest featuring a runway show, a photo booth and snacks. The event closed out LGBTQIA+ History Month. 

The collaboration between the VCU queer organizations help the queer community see what’s available to them and share knowledge with one another, Perez said. It allows the organization to reach a different audience. 

“The most important thing is just finding that overlap of all the different organizations because a lot of people who are in Triangle Club might not know oSTEM people and oSTEM people might not know OMSA,” Perez said. 

Out of This World, and other events co-hosted by VCU queer organizations, such as Queer Prom, provide space for queer students, Perez said. 

“A lot of the time, things like prom, things like Halloween parties, fit into the gender stereotypes,” Perez said. 

Out of This World additionally created a space for acknowledgement and connection around different queer media types, Perez said. A lot of people who come to the queer Halloween parties come in costumes relating to queer media, so it’s inspiring for people to be in a space where people recognize those references. 

“It’s really exciting to see this person dressed up from this thing from this show I watch and being able to recognize that instead of just having that awkward, ‘Oh, what’s the costume? Oh, I’ve never heard that show,’” Perez said. 

oSTEM — an organization at VCU that aims to support LGBTQIA+ students in science, technology, engineering and math — who also hosted Out of This World, values the collaboration, according to Ollie Walker, vice president of oSTEM. 

“I think collaborations are really important because with collaboration we can put on larger scale events where more people can participate,” Walker said. 

oSTEM doesn’t have the resources or space to independently host something like Out of This World, so it’s great they all came together and offered something unique to the table with a collaboration, Walker said. 

Out of This World created a great space for people who might not have had a queer community before college, Walker said. Walker hopes the event provided a warming and charismatic atmosphere for a Halloween celebration where people expressed themselves through costumes and dancing. 

“It has a really huge impact when it comes to giving a LGBTQ students a place to be themselves,” Walker said. 

Walker looked forward to the event’s drag performances since he has found that they help connect students, he said. 

Pretty Rik E, producer of Pretty Boi Drag — a Black, Indigenous and people of color-centered dragging production based out of Washington D.C. — hosted Out of This World, according to Pretty Rik E. He performed a couple of numbers at the event in addition to hosting. 

Drag kings aren’t as well known as drag queens, so Pretty Rik E hoped to expose students to drag kings and particularly drag kings of colors, since dragging tends to be very white, he said. Pretty Rik E also focused on spreading messages about consent and inclusivity while hosting.   

“I really hope that people really, really enjoyed themselves,” Pretty Rik E said. “But, also I hope that people got the exposure to different types of performance. I hope that there’s a feeling of closeness with like minded people and not feeling alone.”

Pretty Rik E felt drawn to this event because it involved being in front of a younger audience, he said. He typically performs for millennial audiences and feels that events such as Out of This World — which create a feeling of belonging and acknowledgement — are “incredibly important” for growing up and maturing. 

Pretty Rik E hopes events geared towards the queer community continue to be a tradition at VCU since it’s beneficial to be inclusive and recognize people for their individuality, he said. 

“I think having events like this allows people at a younger age to feel seen, to feel heard and to feel like they belong someplace,” Pretty Rik E said. “That oftentimes is a lasting impression. And hopefully, they’re able to carry something like this on and maybe even pay it forward whenever they have an opportunity to do it for somebody else.”