The unfortunate bad before the good in the Pride Club’s reinstatement was their unintentional disbanding – the club could not weather the conditions of the 2020 pandemic, especially with many members graduating. The absence of the Pride Club was seemingly felt but not quite heard. To illustrate how meaningful the club truly was, a former advisor Kelly Diaz said “[…]the events on campus. The community connection and hard work of the student members. Pride Club was always amazing.”
After a chance conversation, COS student Blake Penner spoke up and was guided by adjunct faculty member Ben Hollenhorst to pursue an advising instructor. Answering the call was Dr Matthew Nelson Ph.D., who originally advised the club alongside Kelly Diaz.
Dr. Nelson has worked with the LGBTQ+ health resource center, The Source, since roughly 2019, kindly assisting with fundraising. The Source is based in Visalia and it provides, “large meeting spaces, a youth room, trans closet, food pantry, lending library, HIV services, support group, and more!” (thesourcelgbt.org) In November of last year, not only did the club again invite its members, but Dr. Nelson was elected to the board of The Source!
The week of January 28, Pride rejoined the COS Resource Fair and provided immediate access to a space for the LGBTQ+ and also much-needed sanitary health products. The signup sheets are booming and our community is so glad to see it!
The Pride club can connect students with The Source for access to resources such as:
- Gender-affirming clothing/material
- STD/STI testing
- HIV testing
- Sanitary products
- Mental Health Services
- Housing
Both the Pride Club and the Library have an abundance of LGBTQ+ resources that they’re quite eager to share and an invite link to the Pride Club Discord can be found below! https://discord.com/invite/mMc8WH57kW
