More than 400 University of Maryland community members gathered on McKeldin Mall Thursday afternoon to pose for the LGBTQ+ Equity Center’s second annual Big Queer Photo event.
The event aimed to create a welcoming community by celebrating LGBTQ+ community members and allies across campus, according to the equity center’s director, Kristopher Oliveira.
“Despite all the things that are going on in the world, [this university] is a really inclusive place, and it has absolutely filled my cup to see this many people turn out today,” Oliveira said. “It’s been a really special day, and I’m really grateful.”
Oliveira said the event saw a larger turnout than the previous year’s photo, which had about 330 people. More people joined the event after walking by and seeing the crowd’s size, he added.
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This university was ranked as the nation’s top LGBTQ+ university in 2023 and has remained in the top 25 since 2020, according to BestColleges’ annual rankings.
In addition to the annual Big Queer Photo, the LGBTQ+ Equity Center hosts events such as daily Queer Recess, film screenings and book talks. The center also provides gender-affirming care, health and wellness resources and counseling services.
Rachel Gaziano, who works for the marketing and communications office, said she attended the photo for the first time to show support for LGBTQ+ community members at this university.
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Gaziano told The Diamondback that she hopes events like these help foster a wider, and more secure, sense of LGBTQ+ pride and community.
“[I have a] huge amount of pride that [this university] does this, and that the LGBTQ+ Equity Center is so visible and prominent, especially this year,” she said.
Many students who attended last year’s photo returned for Thursday’s event, including senior history major Holland Schmitz.
Schmitz, who has a LGBTQ+ minor focusing on queer scholarship, detailed a sense of pride for the inclusivity this university has for the queer community.
“This [photo event] is definitely an act of existence is resistance,” Schmitz said. “It’s important to show campus that we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re here to support.”
Junior studio art major Atlas Martinez also returned to be in the picture this year and was pleased in the growth and organization of the photo’s process. Martinez enjoyed celebrating his identity freely, he explained.
“This is gonna be in the school record,” he said. “Someday, some other queer kid is gonna be looking through them and then they’re gonna see us.”
