Pride Prom

By Stephanie Corral |Staff Writer|

The Pride Center at CSUSB hosted their annual Pride Prom at the San Manuel Student Union fourplex on May 26.

The prom this year was space-themed, titled Cosmic Queers.

“Since it is an annual event we start planning in the summer, and choose the theme since then,” said Pride Center staff member Raul Maldonado.

The event included decoration, food, music and a dance floor.

“Because it is like a real prom, it gives members of the LGBT community a chance to bring someone or go with people they couldn’t have really gone with to their high school prom,” said Maldonado.

This is an annual event that the pride center hosts at end of spring quarter, because they have found it to be a great experience for students.

They host this specific event every year as a way for students to de-stress and have a good time.

“There needs to be a balance between informative and entertainment events, its not always a party,” said Maldonado.

The Pride Center hosts a variety of events throughout the year.

They try to maintain this balance between educational events but also events where students can enjoy themselves at school.

Not all school events are strictly educational at CSUSB and are not only open to students.

The Pride Center invites everyone to Pride Prom each year; it is open to the community and is completely free of charge.

The only requirement is that attendants must be at least 18 years old.

Last year at Pride Prom, they had around 60 people attend.

This is an event that the pride center will continue to host regardless of the number of attendees.

“I have attended pride prom for four years in a row now, I really enjoy it,” said student Shelby Graham.

“It’s a lot of fun,” continued Graham. 

It is an event that students look forward to and continue to attend throughout their years at CSUSB.

“It isn’t only for the LGBT community, but do be mindful of the space and respect it, since the pride center doesn’t have very many of these events,” said Maldonado.

This is one of the fun events the Pride Center exclusively hosts.

The members and everyone at the Pride Center worked together to make sure it was a successful event.

Not only was it a fun event, but it is also an event that is beneficial to the school and its students because it offers an opportunity to celebrate diversity, specifically the LGBT community.

“It helps students especially in the LGBT community to have a safe place to dance and feel good and not be harassed by others,” said Graham.

The general consensus was that the event had a positive outcome, not only for the LGBT community to feel good, but also for other students to have a positive view on events like these.

If you did not have the opportunity to experience this year’s Pride Prom, you can always attend next year’s night of fun.