The Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) is set to produce their annual zine, a tradition that began in 2024. The zine is meant to honor and bring awareness to LGBTQIA+ issues through poetry, stories and art.
Last year, it focused on transgender stories and issues in honor of Transgender Awareness Week. This year, there is no specific focus, with the GSA highlighting the existence of queer individuals in general.
“A zine in itself is meant to represent anti-censorship and to show the truth of a community without having to limit ourselves due to outside influences,” said Marley DeRienzo, GSA president. “It’s especially important to be publishing this zine in the first place, given all the anti-trans and anti-queer legislation that’s been being passed.”
A true testament to creativity, this year’s zine will feature abstract drawings, satire pieces and codified messages. Through these contributions, the GSA hopes to give people a glimpse into the world as they see it.
“The zine is a representation of what the GSA stands for: a community of people who are just trying to exist,” DeRienzo said. “The zine itself isn’t as much of a political statement as much as it is just an outpouring of creativity and community showcased together. It’s a view into the kind of stuff that happens when you’re not afraid to be yourself.”
Despite the fact that the GSA’s zine is focused on self-expression rather than a statement to society, there are still underlying messages of importance. Many of the pieces highlight a need to call attention to the true humanity of queer people.
“[Queer people] have been so vilified the past couple years that I think it’s easy to forget that the same people that political ads are demonizing are your classmates, friends and neighbors,” DeRienzo said. “I think there’s a lot of beauty to stepping outside the bounds of heteronormativity to see something presented in a different way, a different story.”