Between April 1. and April 26., the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) will host Gaypril, a series of activities that seek to uplift the queer community on campus.
“Gaypril is a celebration of all LGBTQIA+ identities,” said Jonathan Gonzales, director of the GSC. “It’s a month of programming that aims to hit on all of the GSC’s four guiding principles: advocacy, celebration, education and inclusion.”
Throughout April, Gaypril will represent these principles by offering different entertainment and educational events that seek to build a community for LGBTQ+ Carleton students. Previously, the GSC hosted and celebrated pride week in the middle of April with events such as educational workshops, trivia and brunch. Gaypril will now be the GSC’s annual pride event.
“Some of our larger events didn’t align with the previous pride week schedule but still embodied its spirit,” said Kalena Thwaits, the gender and sexuality center assistant director, adding that it made sense to “unify [all events]” happening in April under one cohesive celebration.
“By creating Gaypril, we could connect these events in a cohesive way, amplifying queer visibility and celebration throughout the entire month,” said Thwaits.
Additionally, by hosting multiple events during April, the GSC is able to “be inclusive of many LGBTQIA+ celebration and visibility days,” as the office will celebrate trans visibility day, international asexuality day and lesbian visibility week during the month.
However, as Thwaits said,“the core goals of pride week remain: collaboration, community and joy.”
These goals will be developed in the Gaypril events, which include the exhale zine release party, which will introduce the 2025 version of the Exhale Identity Series annual student zine; a vogue workshop with Jason Rodriguez, an actor and dancer known for his role in Pose; Carleton’s first mini ball, celebrating historical LGBTQ+ traditions; and the Carleton’s a Drag drag show.
Previous pride week events, such as Tea Time — a weekly informal event for students to connect with GSC staff and Peer Leaders — and trivia for different LGBTQ+ events and history, will remain throughout the month.
The GSC will collaborate with various offices across campus, including the Queer Mental Health Collective by Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) and the Office of Health Promotion (OHP), the Chaplain’s Office, the Division of Inclusion, Equity and Community (IEC) and the Theater & Dance Department.
“When I first got to Carleton in the first term, there weren’t really any events that the GSC put on,” said William Sekula ’28, a student office assistant for the GSC. “I remember being like, well, I can tell that a lot of people are queer here, but I didn’t really feel like there was much of a sense of community or like anything going on.”
Gaypril has created a space to “make it a little bit easier to find other queer people,” which “fosters a sense of community,”Sekula said.
However, in the current climate for the LGBTQ+ community, Gaypril represents an opportunity for the GSC to advocate for LGBTQ+ students.
“Over the past few months, we’ve seen a sharp rise in anti-queer rhetoric, the removal of queer spaces across the country and continued vitriol directed at the trans community,” Thwaits said. “Gaypril is a month-long celebration dedicated to countering these harmful narratives by uplifting queer joy, fostering community and creating affirming spaces.”
“Because of the current political climate we wanted to build in more programming and opportunities for celebration and queer and trans joy for the LGBTQIA+ Carleton community. Our hope was that in hosting programming throughout the month of April, it would allow for more student participation,” Gonzales said.
The GSC’s advocacy for LGBTQ+ students also involves visibility and guidance, principles that will remain after Gaypril ends.
“We are committed to visibility. While many gender and sexuality centers nationwide have been forced to close, the GSC at Carleton is here, active and expanding its work. We want students to know they have a dedicated space and community supporting them,” Thwaits said. “Our goal is to ensure that students feel both informed and supported, no matter what challenges arise.”
The GSC offers mentoring sessions with the director and assistant director, as well as SHAC services with LGBTQ+ affirming professional counselors.
“If you’ve got questions or concerns or you need something related to your health care, if you need something related to therapy, if you need something related to any information you need that you don’t even know where to start with, we have people here who can help,” Sekula said.
However, the GSC recognizes the wider situation at the national level and has begun to take steps to address it within the community.
“We’re working with the queer mental health collective to offer sessions on accessing gender-affirming care and a discussion on the state of LGBTQIA+ policies in the U.S. We’re also looking to partner with organizations like OutFront to bring in experts who can provide insights into legal realities,” Thwaits said.
Beyond Gaypril, the GSC plans to host the lavender graduation celebration, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ students of the graduating class of 2025 during senior week. Next academic year, the GSC will transfer to the new Union five building, a new interest house that will open in Fall 2025.