Pride Week at Ferris is an eye-opening experience for many students, but for music industry management senior Krystle Karnofsky, it’s been much more than that.
Karnofsky, Treasurer of Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA), will attend her fifth and final Pride Week at Ferris. DSAGA and previous years’ Pride Weeks have shown Karnofsky how much people can grow after attending events and learning more about the LGBT community. They have inspired Karnofsky to accept herself and helped her grow exponentially as an individual, as well.
“DSAGA has been a great thing in my life. I have met my family of friends through this group,” Karnofsky said. “I am sad to be graduating and leaving them.”
A previous fall Pride Week, one that fell on National Coming Out Day, was the most impactful and inspiring for Karnofsky. She had been out on campus and to her family, but not to her grandparents. She was so moved by the support from DSAGA, her family and her friends that she decided to call her grandparents that day and change that.
Ever since, Pride Week has encouraged Karnofsky to express her true self and embrace the LGBT community more fully.
“[This year] I am most looking forward to the Drag Off. Not because of the performances from our professional and amateur Queens and Kings, but because I am going to be competing. This is my first attempt in drag as a king, but I am excited to have fun,” Karnofsky said.
DSAGA will host the Drag Off, Queer Monologues and a variety of events in the Quad for Ferris students April 7-10. These events offer LGBT learning opportunities for students while having fun and meeting new people. Karnofsky said all students should attend events to support their peers, who may or may not be out yet or have had negative experiences with their sexuality.
To Karnofsky and others, Pride Week is a learning and growing experience. DSAGA is a family of friends built around support, acceptance, and education of the LGBT community.