Stonewall Pride Alliance aims to bring LGBT awareness to FIU

Steven Melendez // Contributing Writer

The LGBT community has experienced a lot of positive changes in the last few years. One of them being the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as lifting the ban on military service by transgender people. But there is still plenty of work to be done.

This is where Tim Vargo, intern at the LGBT care initiative office and President of Stonewall Pride Alliance, is stepping in to make a difference.

Stonewall Pride Alliance, a social group located at the Modesto Maidique Campus, provides a safe environment in which people can talk and deal with LGBT issues, as well as educate those who may not know much about its history.

“Visibility and having a space where you can be genuine is pretty important,” said Vargo. “Personally, since I’m transgender, the way I exist in my classes isn’t the way I exist socially because there is no place for that a lot of the time.”

This alliance brings together LGBT members by providing them with a variety of events to participate in. Vargo says majority of the events held by his group is educational with a few social events. A few of these include the yearly Halloween special, as well as the lip syncing competition.

SPA has also collaborated with the Geek Culture Club for an event last Fall semester and will be collaborating with other clubs for future events.

“We have a few educational events coming up, one being the Social Justice Summit on April 19th,” said Vargo. The upcoming events are to focus on pride for the LGBT community.

Presentation proposals for the Social Justice Summit are still being accepted up until April 1, and approval status will be announced on April 4.

The actual presentation isn’t due until April 19, but proposals are due before the deadline.

Bringing LGBT education and awareness to FIU is the main objective Vargo and his team at SPA has. Getting the FIU community to familiarize themselves with LGBT issues is a great way to bring togetherness, but he knows it is only the beginning.