Andrea Diaz

Staff Writer

Lambda Qi is a group that is run through Idaho State University’s Gender Resource Center and is doing much for the LGBTQ+ community. “We provide social events and groups, as well as HIV education and testing, for LGBTQ people ages 18-35,” said freshman Sociology and Political Science major, Rowan Smith, the Lead Coordinator for Lambda Qi.

Lambda Qi has organized many unique events for ISU students and are located on the second floor of the Student Health Center. Previous events have included: Lava Hot Springs trips, game nights, queer coffee nights, rollerskating and movie nights. Recently it has been more difficult for groups to meet on campus due to COVID-19, but Lambda Qi still holds online events to keep the community engaged. They have held digital coffee nights over Discord, candlelight vigils and queer potlucks.

Another change that Lambda Qi has had to make due to COVID-19 is canceling in-person office hours. However, they can be contacted on the Lambda Qi Facebook page or email at lambdaqi.isu@gmail.

The LGBTQ+ community in Pocatello is one that is diverse, vast and welcoming. “There are very few other places in the world I would ever feel as supported as I do here. It’s wonderful to be a part of a community like this, to support others, and to always feel like I have a group of people in my corner rooting for me,” Smith said.

Pocatello is a town that has a strong LGBTQ+ community. Pocatello holds a pride event every year, Club Charleys is a drag queen club that is located in Old Town Pocatello and with organizations and groups on campus that help make LGBTQ+ students feel welcome, it is a community with great attributes.

“For myself specifically, I would say that I am grateful to have been an active member of Pocatello’s LGBTQIA+ community for almost a decade, and am lucky every day to now be running Lambda Qi. To be surrounded by other queer people in Pocatello constantly is a blessing, and to be someone who organizes events with and around my community is a great privilege,” Smith said.

Just like with any community, with positives also come negatives. People in the community, that is as close-knit as they are, feelings can end up hurt and tensions can arise between members, and grudges can be held for very long periods of time. “Pocatello also isn’t very big, so it can be hard to lose important people in our community to one side or another of a small disagreement that gets blown out of proportion,” Smith said.

Many students have had no experience with the LGBTQ+ community or may not even know what it is.

“What I would say to someone who knows nothing about the LGBTQIA+ community is that by becoming someone who actively, loudly and openly supports the LGBTQ people in your life, you will be rewarded 1000 times over by the gift of having LGBTQ people around you in abundance. Your life will be richer, better and brighter for having queer people in it,” Smith said.

The LGBTQ+ community has become more accepted in society with the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to the categories protected against discrimination in hiring and employment in 2014 and the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 in the United States. The United States has made progress, however, there is much progress still to be made.

As former president John F. Kennedy said, “The ignorance of one voter in democracy impairs the security of all.”