Fatseas is the President of MSU Arc, a registered student organization that works to connect LGBTQIA+ students across the university's campus.

The Pride Showcase is one of the many events that the university has planned for this month. The event itself was organized by registered student organization Arc, the University Activities Board, or UAB, MSU Libraries, Spartan Pride Alliance and the Broad Art Museum. 

The event idea came from Arc and was primarily supported by UAB. Advertising and French junior Liv Bartaud is a graphics coordinator for UAB and helped to conduct the event.

“What we do is we bring funding to the table or we bring spaces, so it just makes it a little more possible for RSOs to put on these kinds of events for people,” Bartaud said.

Prior to the event, students were able to register to showcase their different forms of art and performance. During the event, student paintings, photography, designs and prose were laid out for attendees to see. There were also on-stage performances, which included song covers, poetry, lip syncing and drag.

Social work senior and UAB Event Coordinator Hannah Svoboda said one of the reasons this showcase was important, is that it gave students a comfortable space to express themselves.

“There’s not always safe places for these people, so being able to provide a place where there is no judgment and they can do whatever they want instead of feeling like they have to kind of hide parts of themselves is a reason for me,” they said.

Alongside being a safe space, Fatseas said, events like these are a way of fostering connections.

“I think it’s just a sense of community building, knowing these are people who created a work that I can relate to,” she said.

Apparel and textile design sophomore Tristian Laney performed in drag as Breakfast Booffet. The opportunity to have a space like this for queer students to express themselves was something he acknowledged. 

“I am definitely aware of the fact that there are many college campuses where they do not get to have a space like this to feel safe, to perform, to express their queerness,” Laney said. “And the fact that MSU and UAB have taken time out of their schedules to make this important thing possible is super amazing for me.”

Laney said the event allowed many students to explore the queer community at MSU and learn more about different organizations who support queer students on campus.

“Beyond being something for queer people who are already out, creating safe spaces like these allow people who are maybe not in the community or are just interested in exploring a little bit more about queer culture and queer MSU to come out to these events and feel no judgment,” Laney said.