It’s an overcast day in Westwood, and it’s pretty quiet on campus. But in Sunset Rec, people are gathering to eat with, meet, and greet fellow queers.
BBQueer was one of the last major events to finish off National Coming Out Week. It’s a yearly event that the UCLA Queer Alliance throws for the LGBT community to socialize in a specifically queer atmosphere.
The turnout this year was huge. It was particularly incredible to see so many queers come out to a social event that weren’t regular attendees to QA meetings. I didn’t know half the people present, and personally, that was a wonderful thing. There were several games going on, and then huddles of people tables and drinks and food. It was all very simple, and that made it a really good thing.
Being LGBT in UCLA is interesting. Being LGBT anywhere is to live in a heteronormative society and as queers, we need to find communities and friends where we are supported and understood. It’s also with active and closely intertwined communities that social change starts. At UCLA, the LGBT resources and atmosphere is ranked one of the best for US universities. However, most would not say that our community is completely interconnected and perfect. Still, it’s at events like these, with huge numbers of queers coming out to talk and have fun that we can see a community growing. Though most of the time these relationships are behind the scenes, the recent BBQueer event brought to surface the incredible size and diversity of our community and hopefully will jumpstart a year of bringing it closer together.