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Are you an LGBT college student looking for new friends? Perhaps you’re an ally looking for like-minded people with whom you can do meaningful work? Whatever the situation, joining a student group is your solution, and we’ve got you covered. Here is our guide to San Antonio’s LGBT college organizations.

Trinity University: PRIDE

PRIDE is the student organization for queer Tigers and their allies. Chiara Pride, current president of Trinity University’s PRIDE, had this to say of the organization: “PRIDE is an acronym for Promoting Respect Inclusion Diversity and Equality. The name preserves our core values amid the ever-changing dynamics of student organizations. As president, I hope to support our membership and allies as we foster a comfortable, intersectional space for queer students – an organization that respects, includes and advocates for us. Our members are some of the most kind and creative spirits on campus. One of PRIDE’s proudest accomplishments, our LGBTQIA+ student life publication Out and About, covers everything from community activism, to allyship, to how to wear binders safely. These topics exemplify queer students at Trinity – we are advocates, teachers and friends. I am proud to help provide a safe space and platform for my fellow queer students over the next year.” You can follow PRIDE on Facebook (@TrinityUniversityPRIDE) and subscribe to their mailing list by emailing pridetrinity@gmail.com to receive information about publications, meetings and upcoming events.

Our Lady of the Lake University: The Alliance

The Alliance is dedicated to making OLLU’s lakeside campus a safe and welcoming space for students and visitors alike. It seeks to accomplish that goal through activism, education, and volunteering. The Alliance has participated in national campaigns, including Day of Silence and National Coming Out Day. The Alliance has also hosted events like a Transgender Day of Remembrance film screening; Safe Zone Training to educate people about LGBTQ+ identities, gender and sexuality, and examine prejudice, assumptions and privilege; and a conversation with Dr. Staci Speedlin, who led a talk on intersectional identities within academia. Prospective members can get in touch by contacting alliance@ollusa.edu.

San Antonio College: GALA

The Gay Allied and Lesbian Association, or GALA, operates on the principle of family, promising to welcome all members without judgment. Members volunteer throughout the San Antonio community and are passionate about combating the stigma that is associated with the LGBT community. In addition to holding regular meetings for students to socialize and discuss LGBT issues, GALA members have attended San Antonio Pride as a group and thrown events like Fiesta Con Las Reinas, an end of semester pop-up drag show, and Kaleidoscope, an LGBT short film festival. GALA has also supported San Antonio’s End Stigma End HIV Alliance with its efforts to gather data on HIV testing by distributing surveys. GALA meets at SAC but is open to all Alamo Colleges students and faculty. You can connect with GALA on Facebook (@GofSAC247) and Instagram (@sacgala247).

Texas A&M University-San Antonio: The Coalition

The Coalition is TAMUSA’s peer network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students, and their allies. The Coalition hosts activities and engages in service to educate students on LGBTQ+ issues and unite students around the LGBTQ+ community. Past events hosted by the Coalition have included HIV testing days; Coming Out Week celebrations like Drag Show Loteria and a resource fair; Condom Week, which provided free testing and sexual health information on campus in partnership with the San Antonio AIDS Foundation; blood drives; and a Black History Month screening of The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. Learn more about the Coalition on Facebook (@LGBTQACoalitionatTAMUSA).

University of Texas at San Antonio: Spectrum

Spectrum is the safe space at UTSA for students to connect with other LGBT community members and allies. Spectrum has hosted events like free HIV testing days; a trans men’s health panel; Second Chance Prom, where guests could bring whomever they wanted and dress however they wanted; and lavender graduations, which acknowledged LGBT students’ academic successes and honored their personal journeys. Unlike other groups, Spectrum runs on a caucus system that ensures each letter in LGBT gets its due attention. There is one general Spectrum meeting each week, in addition to smaller meetings for specific groups within Spectrum (like the trans and queer caucus, the bi/pan caucus, the sapphic caucus, and the gay men’s caucus). Keep up with Spectrum on Facebook (@SpectrumatUTSA).

St. Mary’s University: OUTLaw

OUTLaw is officially a student group at St. Mary’s School of Law, but it is open to all St. Mary’s University students. It aims to provide support and resources for LGBTQ+ students and allies; to educate the St. Mary’s School of Law and greater San Antonio community on issues involving discrimination and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identification; and to foster personal and professional development through community engagement, networking and mentorship. OUTLaw regularly brings speakers to campus who are pioneers in LGBT legal issues like probate, adoption and immigration law for same-sex partners. Club president Benjamin Paul Dunn said the following: “We have begun partnering with influential advocates for LGBTQ causes. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission supervisory trial attorney Eduardo Juarez has already advised us on some of our policy initiatives. He has also graciously agreed to help OUTLaw meet its goals and be a partner. Chief among those goals is working to establish a transgender-identification name change or gender-marker change clinic. During a recent LGBT San Antonio Bar CLE (Continuing Legal Education), I was approached by many in the community who share in our mission and outreach goal. Most inspiringly, out transgender lawyer Claire Bow, who helped develop the transgender legal clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, has agreed to advise us in pursuing this goal.” If you are interested in joining, you can learn more about OUTLaw online.

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