Oregon State University’s Pride Center celebrates triumphs in queer history with a campus timeline walk displayed throughout campus Monday through Friday until Oct. 31.

The Pride Center, one of OSU’s seven cultural resource centers, typically sets up weekly programming for those in the community and all students to engage in across campus. 

This event is special, however—in honor of Queer History Month, the center has set up eight signs on campus ranging from the SEC plaza to LINC plaza that showcases a timeline of pivotal moments in queer history. 

This installation highlights events specifically in line with the theme of ‘Queer Joy,’ providing information about big successes ranging from the founding of the first human rights organization for queer people in 1924 to the recognition of Stonewall as a national monument in 2016.

“It is important to recognize Queer History Month every single year because we have come so far as a community and because we have so much further to go,” said Marin Monteith, a third-year student leadership liaison for the Pride Center. “Specifically this year, we thought it was just so imperative that we center it around success because our community [like many others] has been so destroyed over the past two years by [the] pandemic.” 

The Pride Center hopes the event will make the queer community feel represented, seen and appreciated on campus since historically, this has not always been the case. 

“In general I hope the community feels proud, whether you are a queer-identifying individual or not, I hope that cis allies feel proud of queer people for the work they have put into guaranteeing their human rights,” Monteith said. 

The Pride Center’s upcoming programming plans include partnering with SOL, the LGBTQ+ multicultural support network at OSU, to bring even more events and awareness to campus.   

One upcoming partnership event is SOL-oween, a celebration of local artists through performances and visuals with costumes or drag encouraged. The event is planned to take place Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. in the Ina Haws gathering hall on campus. 

As with all programming put on by the Pride Center, Monteith said, “I hope it can make queer people feel loved and come together again, after feeling so broken for a couple of years, and in general it shows people what we can do when we come together as allies and as members of the community.”