Irvine Queers

We are the largest queer student organization at UC Irvine

Hi Everybody

As the co-chair for IQ next year, I just wanted to take an opportunity to introduce myself and let you know a few exciting things we are planning for next year. So…here we go!

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I’m Kitty and I will be joining Meagan next year as IQ co-chairs, meaning we will be working hard all year to make Irvine Queers the space our members want it to be.

I’m a part of IQ for you and I have lots of revolutionary ideas in mind to make Irvine Queers the best it’s ever been. But before the planning can begin, I am terribly interested in what you think. So, in my typical style, I have created a survey to help gauge what things people would be interested in for next year. It would help so much if you could complete the survey!

Also we want to start ordering shirts and other IQ merch for next year and I’d love to hear what your thoughts are. Feel free to message or e-mail (irvine.queers@gmail.com) any ideas, comme

nts, criticisms, design sketches, etc. 

I’m so very excited to meet everyone next year, but since it’s so far away and I know we both can barely wait so until then you can contact me via Facebook, my personal tumblr, or email (KittyDorchester@gmail.com)  

Kitty <3

Announcements!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay, but here is your new board for 2013-2014:

Meagan Rapoza and Kitty Dorchester as Co-Chairs

Brad Rafferty as Secretary

Daniel Herron as Publicity Chair

Tris Mendoza as Historian

Adam Bedolla for Treasurer

If you would like to be part of board as an applied position (Fundraising Chair, Events Chair, Outreach Chair, etc) for any position you feel I.Q. needs drop by the LGBT Resource Center and fill out an applied position application.

Also don’t forget to mark you calendars for upcoming events:

  • May 10th we will be having another pancake fundraiser! Drop by and show your support!
  • May 19th Irvine Queers will be going as a group to Long Beach Pride! Let any board member know if you plan on going with our group!
  • Drag Show will be held on May 24th! If you would like to perform fill out a submission at the LGBT Resource Center! If you would like to help out with planning or anything else come to the committee meetings held Fridays at 1:00 pm in the LGBTRC!

That should be all for now.

Good luck on midterms!

-Adam (2012-2013 Publicity Chair)

Edit: One last thing! Don’t forget to keep using Goodsearch! They have games now so you can play and earn money for I.Q. at the same time!

Fundraiser!

Hello everyone!

It’s the beginning of week 4 and this Tuesday (4/23) we are having elections for next year’s board! If you or anyone you know are interested in running for a position next year nominations are being accepted at the LGBTRC.

Also, thanks to everyone who came out and showed their support Friday night at Club Q and yesterday at Wayzgoose!

This Tuesday after board elections we will be heading over to Blaze Pizza on Campus Drive and raising some funds. The event page is here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/180065635479784/?ref=3
print out and present the flyer to the cashier.

Hope to see you there for some delicious pizza!

Adam (2012-2013 Publicity Chair)

More Pancakes!

Hello everyone!

I’d like to start off this week’s post by letting you know that we’re having another pancake sale this week! We’d love to see you show your support so come by Aldrich Hall on Thursday and buy some pancakes or make a donation or just say hi!
Here’s the facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/430463437036404

This week’s meeting is Queer Terminology Bingo! Learn about queer terms in a fun way! Meetings are in Newport Beach A at 7:00 pm.

Also, be ready for our quarterly potluck next week. Bring something delicious and your appetite. :) I will post the google doc sometime this week so y’all can sign up and say what you will bring!

Good luck studying for finals!

-Adam (2012-2013 Publicity Chair)

More Pancakes!

We’ll be having another pancake sale next week on Thursday! You can find us on Ring Road by Aldrich Hall. We’ll be the ones selling pancakes.

Here’s the event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/430463437036404/

And if you would like to volunteer here’s the google doc:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArEyKMtayuKEdGJBckJweDRtVDEydzJhd3drUkJIbXc#gid=0

Next Tuesday we will be playing an improv game. It should be fun and interesting and we hope you come!

We will also start using brownie points for those that volunteer and help out with any upcoming events. Points are accumulated through volunteering at events and fundraisers. The person with the most points gets a gift card at the end of spring quarter so look forward to that.

That’s all for this week!

Good luck on midterms if you still have any. :)

-Adam (2012-2013 Publicity Chair)

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday was Thought Provoking Thursday at the LGBT Resource Center. Hope you all could go and have some discussion.

On Tuesday we had a CARE workshop for the Campus Assault and Resource Education center on campus. We hope you enjoyed the information and will use it when needed.

If you would like to support CARE or are just interested in seeing a great show, come see The Vagina Monologues today and/or tomorrow.
Tickets will be sold today on Ring Road until 4 and they will be $12 with UCI ID. They will be $15 at the door and you can also buy them online at vdayuci.com

Don’t forget to come to our meeting next Tuesday as well!

Also we will be having another pancake sale in the next couple weeks so get your syrup ready!

Have a great weekend!

-Adam (2012-2013 Publicity Chair)

Pancakes Pancakes!

So we had to change our taco fundraiser to pancakes last minute but you should all still come out and show your support! We’ll be in front of Aldrich Hall around 10 in the morning so in case you miss breakfast you can get some pancakes for only $1! Throw in an extra dollar and you can get chocolate chip pancakes! :D

We hope to see you there and good luck on midterms!

-Adam

Upcoming Events!

Hello everyone!

In the coming weeks we will be having a few things going on, like:

  • Weekly Meeting!
    As usual, we will be having our weekly club meeting this Tuesday at 7 pm in Newport Beach A inside the Student Center. This week we will have a self-defense workshop!
  • Blaze Pizza Fundraiser!
    After the meeting we will be going as a group to Blaze Pizza to raise funds for our club. We will be handing out flyers at the meeting or you can print one out from the event page here:
    http://www.facebook.com/events/249675738499792/?mall_view=posts
  • TACOS!
    Thursday of week 4 (1/31) we will be selling carne asada tacos on Ring Road so come out and support us and have some delicious tacos! If you would like to volunteer let us know on the Irvine Queers facebook page. It would be very appreciated. :)
  • Club Q!
    Our quarterly dance is coming so be on the lookout for other announcements!

That should be it for the next few days. We hope to see you there!

-Adam

Welcome Back!

We hope you all enjoyed your winter break!

Now that the new quarter has started we hope you are excited and ready for the events we have planned this winter!

First event:

BONFIRE!
This Friday will be our quarterly bonfire held at Corona del Mar. If you would like to join us simply meet at the flagpoles at 5:30. If you are available to give rides please say so on the facebook page and even if you can’t but are still planning on going please rsvp to give us a rough idea of how many people are going and how many drivers we’ll need.

http://www.facebook.com/events/263956027066271/
Hope to see you there!

Also, our weekly meetings will no longer be in Moss Cove this quarter. We will be moving to Newport Beach A starting today and for the rest of the quarter. Meetings will still be at 7 pm.

We hope you can join us for our events and meetings and we will keep you updated on any other club related activities via facebook, tumblr, blogger and meetings.

Have a great quarter!

-Adam

Good luck!

Hello IQ!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the potluck on Tuesday! Lots of great food and lots of faces! Hopefully y’all enjoyed it. :)

With finals week starting tomorrow we would like to wish you all good luck! Good luck with studying and good luck on your finals!

We hope to see you again next quarter!

Have a nice winter break and all the best,
Adam

Hello IQ!

Hope you are all prepared for midterms this week! Good luck to all of you!
Another thing you should also be prepared for…

CLUBQ!

This Friday is Irvine Queers’ quarterly dance, CLUB Q: A Nightmare before Queermas! The theme is Nightmare Before Christmas. No costume is required but feel free to come dressed in costume!

Also, this Tuesday is our weekly meeting. This week in order to take a break from studying and midterms we will be having a pajama and board game night, so bring your favorite pair of PJ’s and have fun with everyone playing board games! Or just come in regular clothes, that’s cool too. Just come to our meetings!

Club Q event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/222833554513961/

Week 2, Fall 2012

Hello Everyone!

I would like to start by apologizing for the lack of updates on the IQ tumblr page and blogspot. I’m still adjusting to my schedule, as I’m sure some of you are as well, but I hope to keep the updates more frequent. With that, let’s go to

Announcements!

  • Tomorrow, October 12 is our fall quarter bonfire! (click to go to the event page) We will be meeting at the flagpoles at 5:30 pm and if you are able to provide rides to and from the beach please write on the event page telling us so. Smores and fire and friends and sand and fun! Hope to see you there!

  • This week is national Coming Out Week! The LGBT Resource Center has been tabling all week and will be tabling tomorrow as well so come by the booth on ring road and say hi!

  • For those that did not know yet, our meetings are now in Moss Cove A and will be for the rest of fall quarter. Next week we will be having a Coming Out Panel speak!

BONFIRE TOMORROW! WOOO!
-Adam

Hello New and Returning Rainbow Anteaters!

We hope you all had an eventful and fun summer!

Now that fall’s here so are Irvine Queer meetings and events! Hopefully you all checked out IQ’s booth at the Anteater Involvement Fair. We have quite a few other things planned this quarter, continuing this week.

Tomorrow, Tuesday September 25th we will be going to Screen on the Green! If you would like to join us meet at the flagpoles at 6:45. We will be taking the shuttles to the ARC and watching the film as a group. We hope to see you there!

On Wednesday is the LGBT Center’s Resource Fair! It will be taking place from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Come by and hang out, meet other fellow rainbow anteaters and groups and get to know the place. It’s located on the third floor of the student center. For any other questions about the center go here!

Wednesday night is also Aldrich Park After Dark! Like Screen on the Green, we will be meeting prior to the event at the flagpoles at 6 (the flagpoles are kind of a big deal for clubs, fyi) and we will attend the concert as a group.

We hope to see you at at least one of the events! And if you haven’t yet, check out the facebook event here.

One more thing! Weekly IQ meetings start next week, Week 1, every Tuesday at 7:00pm. A reminder post along with other weekly events will be posted hopefully every Sunday (as long as I don’t procrastinate >_<).

That is all!

Your 2012-2013 Publicity Chair,
Adam

Words From Justin :]

So yesterday was interesting. I got to see a multitude of news articles about people who hate me and my queer family so much that they were willing to sit in mile-long lines just to show it. I really can’t put into words how disheartening and infuriating that is. To know that so many people think that I’m somehow less, that I’m undeserving of the rights they take for granted.

This isn’t just about gay marriage. Right now there are so many kids out there–struggling with their sexualities, gender identities, or any number of other things–going through the same things I did when I was younger. Worrying about which of their friends will turn on them, or having to seriously consider whether they’ll even have a place to live once they come out. Perhaps living in denial or hating themselves, even to the point of being suicidal. Learning for themselves that it’s *okay* to be who you are, because no one else will teach them. Try telling those kids how supposedly non-hateful our society is.

I speak from experience; I’ve felt all of those things at some point in my life. Growing up gay in a conservative household is, to put it lightly, difficult. I was lucky enough to meet my friend Adam online when we were in our early teens. We ended up coming out to each other at some point. I don’t recall exactly how that came about, but just having one person that I could be completely open with was so helpful. I can honestly say I probably wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t had that friendship to lean on. But even so, I had my share of denial and self-hatred. I told myself I was really straight for years, that my attraction to guys was just a phase. When I couldn’t make myself believe that anymore, I told myself I must be bisexual instead, to hang on to the idea that I could still at least have some heterosexual attractions like I was “supposed” to. It was such a self-destructive way to live, and I wasn’t able to fully come to terms with myself until more recently than I care to admit. While I’m absolutely proud of myself as I am today, not everyone is that lucky.

Every time I heard someone I respected condemn queers when I was younger, it killed me a little inside. When I think of how a closeted queer kid might have felt yesterday, seeing those thousands upon thousands of people proudly displaying their ignorance and bigotry, it tears me apart. I’m tired of the Chick-fil-A controversy, of institutionalized queerphobia and of this insane religious hegemony that consistently puts doctrine ahead of basic human compassion. As tired as I am, though, this is why I’m so vocal about queer rights. The simple truth is that the queer community needs to take care of itself, because if we don’t there are so few others who will. That’s why I advocate, even if some weeks it’s just a link here or putting in my two cents there in the hopes that someone might see it and be encouraged. As long as the queer community is treated like second-class citizens, as long as there are kids out there going through the same things I had to go through, closeted and unable to stand up for themselves, I’m going to do what I can on their behalf. I urge all of you, especially the many queer allies I know, to do the same.

-Justin Lara (I.Q. Co-Chair)