Queer Agenda | Clark 24/7

Clothing swap kicks off Pride Month

Clark Queer Agenda kicked off Pride Month with its first-ever clothing swap on June 1. Students chose clothing new to them. Clothing was neatly stacked on tables in PUB 161. One table had jackets. Another held pants, another shirts, another dresses.

Although many students donated clothing, students did not have to contribute clothing in order to shop. Blake chose a black overcoat and paired it with eggplant pants. Leilani found a peach shirt and black pants with multiple decorative zips. Lillian chose a lime green crop top with metal chain straps. Xoxia chose a black lacy button-up shirt.

It was also just a hangout space where students could connect. One student played acoustic guitar while others sat around chatting.

Alexsander Havens, president of Queer Agenda said the group promoted the event through its Discord server of about 70 students. ASCC President Casey Figone had posters made to hang around campus.

Students engage in Mutual Aid

The event was brainstormed during a Queer Agenda meeting when students were discussing future plans for the club and a desire to get more involved with advocacy.

*_{PSU student intern Cassandra Walsh, left and Jill Forgash from ODEI fold clothing at the Queer Agenda clothing swap}*

The idea of mutual aid was introduced by Jill Forgash, a student success coach who works in Clark’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office and Cassandra Walsh, a Student CARE intern at Clark who is earning a master in social work degree at Portland State University. The group had expressed interest in arranging a clothing swap, and the event was a perfect fit with mutual aid.

At its core, mutual aid is simply students helping other students.

“Students in the group already were doing mutual aid without realizing it,” said Jill Forgash. “They share resources. They share clothing. They bring home-baked goodies to meetings.”

“As the students started planning the clothing swap, we advocated for the event to be student run, student centered,” said Walsh. “It’s been cool to see this idea on paper and then see them run with it.”

Forgash looked around the room and said, “This is a powerful example of community building.”

Queer Agenda plans to offer a clothing swap at least annually, if not each term. In the future, they may partner with other clubs such as Black Student Union and Theater and would like to connect with other students interested in mutual aid.

Clark Queer Agenda