A table that boasted all colors of the rainbow encouraged Iowa State students Thursday to stop by and speak about bills concerning some marginalized communities, sponsored by the Pride Alliance and Queer* Graduate Student Association.

Representatives from the student organization Pride Alliance stood in the Agora from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to inform others about political awareness and promote it across campus. The table, “Contact Your Representatives,” was one of the activities for Pride Week.

“We’re hoping to promote political awareness around issues that would affect our community and other minority communities,” Roslyn Gray, treasurer of Pride Alliance, said.

Located on the table were bills that Pride Alliance set out for students to draft letters or take pictures of to work on elsewhere. The Pride Alliance hopes to incite action instead of “wallowing in pity” by providing students with a starting point to be politically active.

“Because of the current political atmosphere we’re pressed to behave a little more vocally than we usually do,” Gray said.

Sebastian Martinez, soon-to-be outreach officer, acknowledged that it would be difficult to attract students to the Agora. This is especially applicable considering the table dealt with LGBTQ rights and political issues, which are both sensitive topics. 

Gray also said that she hopes the students who didn’t stop by the table realize that there is an organization that promotes the rights of the LGBTQ community.  

The bills ranged from different topics such as the Environmental Protection Agency, immigration policies, abortion, federal funding cuts and voter photo identification. The voter photo identification is a problem for gender-fluid citizens, especially when their gender expression may differ from their photo identification.  

Students passed by and wrote letters to their representatives about issues that concerned them.

Kathryn Kananen also was at the table to represent a new student organization at Iowa State, the Asexual Aromantic Alliance, whose constitution was just approved.

The Pride Alliance boasts about 150 members and has not only hosted Pride Week but also bi-annual drag shows and Coming Out Week.