MELISSA MARTINEZ
STAFF WRITER

The LGBTQA Pride Center will be hosting a campus-wide Pride parade on Tuesday, May 1 from noon to 1 p.m.

Last month, the Pride Center dedicated April to “Gaypril,” celebrating the LGBTQ community with daily activities held either in the center or on campus to expand support and welcome students to daily events and educational programs.

Since the first Pride Parade held in New York in 1969, the parade has traveled all over the country, allowing members of the LGBTQ community and allies to exhibit their support. The annual parade is held in numerous regions to demonstrate the necessity of fundamental human rights being extended to individuals who identify as LGBTQ.

CSUSM’s first Pride Walk will begin outside of the Commons building at noon and travel through campus towards Palm Court for a photo and continue towards Library Plaza, in which the capacity will be counted.

LGBTQ Pride Center director, Robert Aiello-Hauser explained the purpose for the campus-wide march.

“May 1 is an opportunity for campus to live up to the university’s mission and vision and the core values of an inclusive community. There are a lot of allies that ‘talk,’ but to visibly see individuals showing support for students at CSUSM will say and mean a lot to the community,” Aiello-Hauser said.

He went on to say that being an ally is important, especially when support is necessary to obtain human rights, such as marrying someone of the same sex or demonstrating love publicly. Showing ally-ship is much more than promises; it is visually demonstrating support, even when it may not be convenient.