Campus clubs are traveling all over and the Gay Straight Alliance is no different, traveling to Long Beach to attend the LB Pride Festival on May 16 and 17.

“There were vendors, performers, and other schools there trying to get exposure,” Dottie Wine, of the Southbay Center said, who attended the festival with ECC students.

The students, in partnership with the center, set up a booth with fliers trying to attract locals who may not have known the center or club even existed.
“We are new to the area and are the only one in the south bay area, so we want people to know that we are there fore them,” Wine said.

The center holds meetings and tries to lend a supportive atmosphere to anyone who may need it.

“El Camino is the only college in the area that has this club so it’s special,” Wine said.

The club focuses on many of the same things that the center does and is a prominent club on campus.

“Representatives from the center have reached out to the club and we want them to know that we will be there for them in any way that we can,” Wine said.

Many of the students who attended the festival found it to be very fun and liked that they could have a booth where they could come back to throughout the two day festival.

“We made it a sort of “home base” for them and they could leave their belongings there while they had fun and walked around,” Wine said.

“There were other booths similar to ours with fliers and other information letting people know what we have to offer, as well as many booths selling things similar to a carnival,” Wine said.

This kind of event makes it more fun and interactive and no doubt it why it attracts so many people.

According to the website “the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival & Parade is the 3rd largest in the nation and is now attracting over 75,000 participants over the two-day celebration.”

This massive event no doubt will help to attract and inform people of both to both the Southbay Center as well as the GSA club on the ECC campus.

“Events like this one are all about bringing people together and for us gaining exposure so more people in the community will know that we are around for them,” Wine said.