Photo courtesy of Leah Wrazin
For many students of color, it can be difficult to find spaces to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community within the wide scope of extracurricular clubs at Hofstra.
Although the club is not new on campus, the Queer and Trans People of Color Coalition’s (QTPOCC) executive board is attempting to revitalize the club after taking a hit to its membership during the pandemic. Creating an environment where people feel like they are welcome is something that QTPOCC strives to achieve with each meeting.
“One of the biggest things that we’ve been trying to do as QTPOCC starts up again is just to encourage as many people that want to come to come, because we are simply trying to make a space where everybody can be themselves, no matter what identity they have or want to explore,” said Arielle Ruiz, a senior journalism major and the president of QTPOCC.
Meeting attendance is a key part of QTPOCC’s journey to stretching members’ understanding of each other and continuing to raise awareness about the queer and trans communities, as well as the communities of color, within the Hofstra campus.
“We have to be a little more active because there is such a stigma around the trans and queer communities, particularly amongst people of color,” Ruiz said. “We have to show up just a little bit more, even if it’s just coming and showing up to these club meetings … just even promoting [the club] and letting people know this club exists shows that the little things matter, too, not just the big gestures.”
Even for people who might not initially feel like they fit perfectly into the club’s description, QTPOCC provides an opportunity to continue to develop a new sense of intersectionality.
As a white person, Patrick Kraft, who is a sophomore drama and music double major and QTPOCC’s secretary, was originally worried about holding a position on the e-board in fear of overshadowing the voices of the people of color in the organization. Ultimately, he found community in the club while also learning to navigate privilege.
“I still represent a good chunk of what QTPOCC stands for, because I’m still queer,” they said. “I am gay, I use he/they pronouns and I can still be a voice for people in the community. I can still represent QTPOCC without taking away from a student of color’s experiences and while helping to echo their experiences using my privilege.”
This concern is part of the reason QTPOCC encourages people of all races and sexualities to join. Members of the club’s e-board have strived to break down preconceived ideas of what it means to participate in QTPOCC as they work toward rebuilding the club. They hope to expand the ways students perceive how different elements of their identity interact.
“There’s no exclusivity to any identity,” said Sam Gong, a senior forensic science major and the vice president of QTPOCC. “There’s always going to be intersectionality. There’s always going to be people that overlap into all of these communities … just because you’re queer or just because you’re trans or just because you’re a person of color, there is no actual ‘just.’ Everything intersects with each other.”
Through QTPOCC, members hope to encourage people to work at developing their awareness of others.
“Show up. Try a little bit harder, especially when it comes to things that you may not value yourself,” Ruiz said. “This could absolutely mean something for someone else. We don’t know the other struggle someone else is going through, and it isn’t our place to decide for someone else.”
While QTPOCC itself continues to struggle with gaining recognition from campus organizations like Student Government Association (SGA), its e-board hopes to become recognized as a full-fledged club in the near future.
“[SGA’s] recognition is something that we’ve been trying to get for a while, that unfortunately, we haven’t [had] the most success with,” Gong said. “Beyond that, support from university offices has also not been the most abundant in this case.”
Due to a lack of funding, club events have been somewhat limited in scope and scale. In the meantime, QTPOCC has been forced to turn their focus to their meetings and building a welcoming atmosphere for any student who might want to join as they pursue full club status on campus.
“If we want to do bigger events, which we really do, we would love to do more social events and more advocacy events, but it has to start with people caring enough to show up,” Gong said.
QTPOCC holds meetings biweekly on Wednesdays, and their next meeting is on Wednesday, April 13. More information about the club and future events can be found on Instagram @hu_qtpocc.
