Community Spotlight #5: Penn State Behrend GASE (The Gender and Sexuality Equality Club)

Penn State Behrend members of Gender and Sexuality Equality Club (GASE)

Trigon, as it was originally called, was founded around 1992 by Dan Ester, a student at Behrend. In 2017, the name was changed to GASE (The Gender and Sexuality Equality Club). The mission remained the same to provide a safe space for exploration and expression of one's gender and sexuality without judgment and to foster a healthy environment on campus for all people of all genders and sexualities.

Penn State as a college celebrates Pride month during April, as students are not present on campuses in June. GASE's new initiative this year was to celebrate Pride with a full week of events on campus. Part of the week of events was the return after the COVID hiatus of the drag show hosted by Lola LeCroix. While this was the tenth year of Behrend hosting the show, GASE looks to have it continue as an annual event in April.

Looking to the future, GASE has been trying to become more and more involved both within the Erie community and on campus at Behrend. We have worked to connect with the queer-focused clubs at surrounding colleges (SAGA - Mercyhurst, Identity- PennWest Edinboro, and Queer Collective - Gannon), looking forward to planning collaborative efforts within the next academic year. GASE has also begun focusing on more community-based events, such as helping fold the Erie Gay Newsletter and holding a clothing drive to benefit Compton's Closet. The main goal for the upcoming year is to continue community-based efforts, as well as hold more frequent events on campus. GASE also plans to partner with the Multicultural Council and the culture clubs at Behrend.

GASE is primarily an organization for Penn State Behrend students, and they are welcome to join in the general meetings to find ways of getting involved and getting to know the other members. To find out more, follow them on Instagram @behrendgase. (http://www.instagram.com/behrendgase/?hl=en)