Bailey Thompson | News Editor
While some people might have expected the middle of the term to involve overwhelmed college students staying in their rooms and eating instant noodles, this wasn’t the reality for all — a fact which Triangle Alliance recently proved. Dancing under a disco ball and playing card games with friends, the Western club hosted Pajama Jammy Jam on Nov. 2 as a time for LGBTQ+ community members and allies to come together and enjoy a night of wholesome fun in the Werner University Center.
With a fairly open structure to the event, attendees were free to socialize, dance, play games and enjoy a variety of refreshments. During the second half of the event, club members held a drawing and gave away five different prize bundles to those in attendance.
When asked what the goal of the event was, Triangle Alliance Club President Sam Shoemaker, a sophomore theater history major, said that their aim was pretty simple:
“It’s to get people from Triangle Alliance, our club, out and having fun on a Friday night where we would not normally be out and about and partying,” said Shoemaker.
Shoemaker shared that the club is always looking to involve new members. If someone goes to Pajama Jammy Jam who doesn’t normally go to Triangle Alliance, Shoemaker hoped that they would meet people and want to get more involved.
“If you like the people you should come to the club,” Shoemaker said. “It broadens the horizons of the club members and it gives more opportunity for people who might be like, ‘I don’t know if I would like this club’” to get involved.
In addition to social events like Pajama Jammy Jam, the Black and Red Ball and Triangle Alliance’s Annual Drag Show, Shoemaker expressed that there are also a number of informative events that Triangle Alliance has been hosting in order to educate its member about important issues in the LGBTQ+ community.
“Last Thursday (Oct. 25) we put on a talk with the LGBTQ+ class about the trans memo that came out that weekend about what President Trump allegedly might do in the trans community,” said Shoemaker. “There’s a really good quote that I heard from somebody: ‘Being gay is being political. Being queer is being political.’ And so, first thing for me this year with the club is that I don’t want to just be a fun social club — I want to talk about the issues.”
For anyone who might be looking for resources to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community, Shoemaker had a couple of suggestions for where to go.
“The Stonewall Center is the resource center for the LGBTQ community. Suse Doepken is the coordinator of Stonewall, and she’s amazing,” said Shoemaker. “If somebody wants to know about things, go to her. Also, Abby’s House is a great resource about advocacy and the feminist mindset.”
If Western students are interested in becoming involved with Triangle Alliance, Shoemaker advises that they start by going to Triangle Alliance’s Midnight Movies event on Nov. 16, which will be showing Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and looking out for auditions to be in the annual drag show, which will occur during Winter Term.
For more information, Sam Shoemaker can be reached at sshoemaker17@wou.edu and the club can also be contacted through trianglealliance@wou.edu. Triangle Alliance meets on Thursdays in Ackerman 141 from 4:30-6 p.m.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton
