Claire and Gib met in an elevator. It was the first day of our freshman year of college. We were two scared little queers, anxious to make friends and establish ourselves as real adults. We made eye contact on that fateful day, and like any good friend would, Gib followed Claire to something he was definitely not invited to.
What blossomed is an almost three-year friendship and a creative partnership that shattered the world. But, who cares about all of that? What you're really here for is utter gayness and the long-held tradition of talking about ASU in State Press Magazine.
So, without further ado, let us qualify ourselves on all that is queer: Claire is a white, bisexual, nonbinary girl who, by their own admittance, has only ever dated men. That does not mean they haven't been in love with multiple women, but that's a story for another time.
Gib, otherwise known as TransgenderMexican4000, is a Mexican transgender man who is a frequent gay bar enjoyer and has a penchant for jangly bracelets. Together, we form one SuperQueerTM with a mission to prove that the entire world is very, very gay. So, why not tackle the very institution that united us?
Welcome to THAT'S GAY: ASU
You may be wondering, why this? Why now? Well, the answer is simple: Queer people are under attack. The Trump administration has made one thing very clear, and that is being queer in any way, shape or form, is unacceptable. One would hope that higher education would see past this temporary point of view, yet many have crumbled to the will of a big orange man with supposed dementia shoes — including ASU.
With the changing of resources for queer people on the University's website, it's obvious to us that this institution cares more about appeasing an administration than the lives of those who attend it. We are here to prove that ASU is, in fact, very gay. LGBTQ+ people exist despite our erasure, and the queer community at ASU is alive and well.
So, let's dive into what makes this University queer and what makes it homophobic, too. Because as we all know, two things can be true at once (unfortunately).
The serves
Drag U Downtown
Drag U Downtown hosts an annual drag show in Downtown Phoenix. The event features performances from local drag queens, provides free food and mocktails, and collects donations for the Queer Center nonprofit. Anyway, let's share our experiences at this fabulous event.
C: For me, Drag U Downtown was life-changing. I attended the drag show in the spring of 2023 as an 18-year-old dumbass. I was a journalism student at the time, and for one of my projects, I had to interview local drag queens taking part in the event. I had recently gotten into "Rupaul's Drag Race," but drag as a concept was still somewhat foreign to me. Getting to meet all these wonderful drag kings and queens and connect on the fact that we're all out here trying to express ourselves in peace was honestly a turning point in my understanding of myself. Loved it. 10/10.
G: When I started at ASU as a freshman, I was very scared about being the only gay person. I'm from Tucson, and the rumor around there is that everyone at ASU doesn't like gay people, so when I walked around every Taylor Place (aka Gordon Commons) welcome week event and saw that no one looked like me, I started to believe it. After almost a whole year of trying to deny that rumor, Drag U Downtown sashayed into my life. I went to the show my freshman and sophomore years, and both times were amazing. It was a great feeling seeing people perform and having something attached to the school you go to be so undeniably queer. Also, the following year, Taylor literally transitioned into Gordon. When I came out as a transgender man, so did he, and isn't that so damn lovely?
The Rainbow Coalition
According to its webpage, The Rainbow Coalition "is an inclusive, student-led coalition that advocates for the rights, safety, and overall health of the 2SLGBTQ+ community at Arizona State University." It is an umbrella organization of multiple ASU clubs, like Confetti, Aspec Alliance and TransFam, that cater to queer students.
G: I mean, what's not to love? It's queer students coming together to form a community. That's like, the whole point, y'know? It paints a picture that being gay at ASU is really who you know and what you do. A lot of the slays I have seen around here have been student-led attempts to bring people together.
C: While I'm not personally involved with the organization, I feel it's an excellent resource for us. I mean, as queer people, community is historically the most important thing we can cultivate. From party culture to coffee houses, we've always found a way to connect with each other in a society that's never quite accepted us. Like Gib said, it's all about who you know. Safe spaces for queer people exist everywhere, and you just have to find them. The Rainbow Coalition serves to connect us, which is just divalicious I would say.
Barrett LGBTQ+
The LGBTQ+ Club at Barrett is "an academic, professional, and advocacy-based forum for LGBTQ+ students on Barrett's Tempe campus," according to Sun Devil Sync. Their mission is to connect queer students to queer professionals and support the LGBTQ+ members of Barrett, The Honors College through anything they may experience, including networking and other obstacles queer people face in academia.
C: What I like about this club specifically is their commitment to connecting queer people in a professional setting. Not to beat a dead horse, but I’m going to beat a dead horse here: Community is key. I know I'm scared to enter the workforce as a queer person, and I imagine that in this current political climate, many feel the same way. So, connecting to queer professionals is a life-changing opportunity. To feel accepted in a system that is specifically designed to exclude you is beautiful. And who doesn't like a power gay?
G: I am not going to lie to you all. I am not in Barrett because I am not a nerd loser, like Claire. Could I have gotten in? That is simply not important. What matters is that in a previous statement, it was mentioned that I met Claire in an elevator and then followed them to an event I was not invited to. On that fateful day, I got on a bus to Tempe for the first time and did in fact follow them to the Barrett welcome event, which Claire then skipped to hang out with me. So the gayest thing Barrett did was the creation of us.
University Street Market
University Street Market is a pop-up market on ASU's Tempe campus that sells vintage clothes, art and more. Their mission is to "bring the community together through art, education, and sustainable practices."
C: You know what? It's kind of gay to sell old clothes. There's something that draws queer people to vintage clothing like moths to a flame. We just like them, okay? I cannot really prove my point through facts and logic, but I can argue that in my personal experience, thrifting has helped me to express my gender identity in a unique way. I think this is due to the fact that thrifting is largely inexpensive. I have the ability now to buy clothes that fit how I feel about my gender at any given time, and then sell them when I don't identify with that version of myself anymore. It's actually quite beautiful.
G: Same as Claire, I think this is a vibes-based category. Are you gonna sit there and tell me this shit doesn't sound gay? If you see the words "vintage" and "art" in a sentence, the little queer bells in your brain start ringing. I didn't start dressing how I felt until markets like these started popping up in my hometown, and it's great to see that happening on campus, too. All I can hope is that some little queer person buys their first hideous outfit at one of these events, grows up from their baby gay status a year later and then buys a better outfit from the same event. Just like me <3
The flops
Barrett LGBTQ+ (again)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This one sounds familiar... like four paragraphs ago familiar. But this "forum for LGBTQ+ students" has some major issues that earns it a space in the flop category.
C: The fundamental problem with the LGBTQ+ Club at Barrett is the exclusion baked into the honors college itself. Barrett is not just an earned merit, but an expensive add-on to the already rising prices of tuition. It also requires a significant amount of extra course work, which, yes, makes sense for an honors college, but fails to acknowledge the fact that oftentimes queer students deal with hurdles that a cis/straight student wouldn’t encounter. Offering outreach programs to an underrepresented community is never a bad thing, but hiding those resources behind a paywall most definitely is.
G: Once again, I am not in Barrett because I am not a nerd loser. I am not going to give Barrett full credit for me and Claire meeting anymore; that was the will of Gay God. For the sake of the whole community message thing we're going for, we can't exactly be all exclusionary. So by the powers vested in me by said Gay God, fuck that.
Drag U Downtown (again)
This isn't really a flop on the event's part per se, but as of April 8 — the day we're literally submitting the final draft of this — ASU informed Drag U Downtown that this year's events would have to be cancelled or rescheduled.
The State Press reported that according to a University spokesperson in an email, the organization did not receive approval on time to proceed on the dates and times they originally requested due to a combination of factors, with incomplete information and insufficient security protocol that "couldn't be remedied in time."
C: The only thing that I can imagine "couldn't be remedied in time" is their hate toward gay people.
G: Period.
ASU as a whole
This one is sort of a blanket statement, but can you really say we're wrong? Unfortunately, ASU has decided to change its online LGBTQ+ resources by removing web pages promoting trans-specific resources and name-change resources, as well as changing wellness resources for queer students and mentions of pride and culture. Now, anyone trying to access these resources are given links to the Rainbow Coalition, a student-led group.
C: Well, this is just great. Little-baby-bitch ASU is too scared to stand up to a literal fascist, so now we're pretending that gay people don't exist. It's sickening, actually. ASU prides itself on "whom it includes," but I guess that means anyone who isn't queer. All I have to say about this one is that it's too late now, fuckers. I'm gay, and I'll let everyone know it, so unfortunately you've already let two SuperQueersTM invade your precious institution.
G: This, of course, comes after a Feb. 15 letter from the Department of Education stating that institutions need to cease "using race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline, and beyond," or risk losing federal funding. While Joanne Vogel, the vice president of Student Services, told The State Press the change was not part of an initiative to comply with new federal DEI policies, it all seems a bit fishy, doesn't it? This act by the University, for whatever reason they claim to have, leaves me feeling a bit hollow. It's not a good look, and it emphasizes our point that the real meat and potatoes of being queer at ASU lies among the students. Go talk to some gay people. Go to a club meeting or a support group. Go use your voice goddammit.
The "That’s Gay" agenda
If there's one thing Claire and Gib enjoy, it's a good old fashioned moral. That's right, we're here to learn something. Be better people. Prove the haters wrong with our facts, logic and ethical prowess. So, what have we learned?
Well, that goes back to about three years ago, in that very elevator that brought us together. As two meek little freshmen, we desperately needed to find a community in a big scary world, and a community we found.
If we can sum this up in any sort of way, it's that queer people exist in every pocket of the world. We take the time to learn about queer people to feel less alone, and we hope this piece makes you feel less alone, too. We want to show you that no matter what greedy ass institution tries to tie you down, queer people are everywhere and by the grace of Sparky the Sun Devil, we're not going anywhere.
And, hey, if Taylor Place can transition to the trans-masc Gordon Commons overnight, you can too.
Edited by Savannah Dagupion, Leah Mesquita and Audrey Eagerton.
This story is part of The Best of ASU, which was released on April 30, 2025. See the entire publication here.
Reach the reporters at amanri14@asu.edu and cageare@asu.edu and follow @notevilclaire and @iamGibManrique on X.
Like State Press Magazine on Facebook, follow @statepressmag on X and Instagram and read our releases on Issuu.
Gib is a junior studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in film and media. This is their second semester with The State Press. They have also worked at Blaze Radio and The Chic Daily.
