Highlighting the queer community in Isla Vista and UC Santa Barbara, vendors and LGBTQIA+ organizations set up tables at Little Acorn Park on April 12 for the third annual Queer Fest. Hosted by the Associated Students Trans & Queer Commission alongside the Isla Vista Recreation & Park District, the event celebrated this year’s Pride Week theme: “Pride Across America.”

Alexa Lopez / Daily Nexus

Sixteen vendors set up at the park and an estimated 400 people visited, according to the Assistant Recreation Coordinator for the Isla Vista Recreation & Park District (IVRPD), Oscar Ramirez. He shared that LGBTQIA+ organizations provided free sandwiches, arts and crafts and a fix-it fair, where attendees could bring items to be fixed for free. Local bands Left on Read, Foxglove and Joveth performed on stage during the event.

Associated Students (A.S.) Trans & Queer Commission’s (TQC) Pride Week was held from April 6-12, as the quarter system makes it difficult to hold festivities during Pride Month in June, according to TQC Co-Chair and fourth-year environmental studies major Chloe Hsieh. Pride Week featured eight events highlighting queerness and the “Pride Across America” theme. The Queer Fest promoted LGBTQIA+ organizations on campus, such as Drag Club and Marginalized Genders in Gaming, and provided the opportunity for community members to learn more about them.

TQC Vice Co-Chair and fourth-year psychological & brain sciences and history of public policy and law double major Eleanor Khan said Pride Week is a time to highlight different aspects of queerness.

“It’s a time where people can be really active when we host big events and for people to feel like there is a big queer community on campus,” Khan said. 

One of the heads of UCSB Drag Club and doctoral candidate in quantitative biosciences Sam Rosen hoped to get more people involved with Drag Club.

“Drag Club is all about getting people more involved in this larger Santa Barbara drag community,” Rosen said. “What we do is we help performers hone their craft, whether it be through makeup skills, wig skills, costuming, just learning how to really put together a number so that we can create a community of drag queens ready to take on Santa Barbara and take on the world.”

Rosen said he hoped the event shines a light on queer organizations on campus.

“I hope that the community is able to learn more about the amount of queer organizations that we have, both at UCSB and in the larger Santa Barbara area. And I hope that the queer folk of UCSB and the Santa Barbara area learned that they’re not alone and that there are a lot of resources out here,” Rosen said. “While yes, there might be a lack of community spaces, we’re not lacking in community. So we want to let people know that we’re here for you and you have a place to go.”

Marginalized Genders in Gaming Club Co-President and third-year film and media studies and psychological & brain sciences double major Katie Elliott appreciated the opportunity to promote their club.

“[Marginalized Genders in Gaming Club is] similar to Gaucho Gaming in that it’s a general gaming club, but we’re just trying to make a dedicated space for marginalized genders, because we understand that gaming is a very kind of cis, male-dominated area. So we just want to make sure that we have a safe space for everyone,” Elliott said.

Hsieh described Queer Fest as an opportunity to elevate queer small businesses and community resources.

“We really liked the idea of a big Pride festival, and we wanted to do something that could uplift queer small business owners and uplift resources within the community and in greater Santa Barbara,” Hsieh said.

Hsieh also emphasized the importance of highlighting queerness in the community.

“It’s really important that we dedicate a lot of time to celebrating queer identities [of] all shapes and sizes; really making sure that despite everything students know that they have a place that they can call home,” Hsieh said. “Queerness is something that you can’t hide, I think it’s important to make yourself loud and make yourself really proud of who you are, because queerness is, in part, an identity.”

Parker Tatum, a fifth-year sociology major, attended the event and felt similarly to Hsieh. Tatum said that it’s important to highlight queerness, especially amid political attacks targeting the LGBTQIA+ community.

“I think in our day and age, we see a lot of demonization of queerness and queer media, and it’s really important to stick together as a community and foster safe spaces for people to really explore their sexuality and their gender,” Tatum said. “I think it’s sometimes good to just have a safe space where you can unwind, relax and just feel the community and just have a good time, rather than focusing on all the negative stuff happening around us.”

Pride Week was capped off later in the day with a drag show at Campbell Hall.

A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Apr. 17, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.