LGBTQ+ students at Montgomery College feel less the need to hide who they are or apologize for their identities.

This is partly due to the work of the MC pride club, space for students to truly be themselves. One Florida transplant could not be more happy about her experiences at Montgomery College.

“My social experience at that school was pretty bad,” says Savannah Lee, referring to her experience being openly queer at her former school, “My friends’ parents wouldn’t let me come to their houses”.

But now, at Montgomery College, Lee has made countless friends at MC Pride. Coming Out Week has been around on the national level since the ’80s, but the event at Montgomery College is new. This event, which took place at the Rockville Campus Center, was hosted in a packed room with students designing their very own buttons, most incorporating one of the many pride flags that denote sexual orientation and gender identity. “Dancing Queen” by Abba was blasting from the speakers.

“It’s a significant time for the LGBTQ+ community,” says the MC pride club president, Aiko Suliman, who was dutifully pressing buttons while interviewed, “a lot of people in the community come out during this time. for many people, it changes their entire lives.”
Coming out week is one of the many ways MC Pride club serves Montgomery College’s LGBTQ+ community. They also work to spread awareness and provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and their allies.

MC Pride & Allies meets Fridays at 1:00 PM in the science center in room 459.