As the doorway to room 316 became more and more clogged with students waiting for banh mi and intersectional stickers, members of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) worked to control the crowd. The bustling room was filled with GSA supporters and Vietnamese-food lovers alike for the luncheon held on Apr. 12.

The club sold Vietnamese sandwiches for $7, with an optional chips and drink for an extra $1. Stickers featuring slogans like “Black Girl Magic” or pictures like one of a waving Michelle Obama sold for $2 each. The stickers sold out almost immediately, helping to raise funds for the club members to see a musical called Fun Home at the Hobby Center on May 25. PreAP English 1 teacher and GSA sponsor Elizabeth Chapman described the fundraising process.

“We decided to hold the luncheon to help us raise money to attend Fun Home, a musical about coming out in the 1980’s,” Chapman said. “TUTS, the group putting the show on, offered to give us the tickets at a discount, and we wanted to make it as affordable as possible for students. Our GSA members were really enthusiastic about getting the rest of our Bellaire community involved in this project.”

The club raised enough money for club members to have a discounted rate to attend to the musical, GSA Treasurer junior Rebecca Parsons said. Because the luncheon sold out of almost every variety of sticker, the club held another highly successful sticker sale on Apr. 25 at lunch in room 316. The two sales combined meant that each GSA member had to pay only $10 for his musical ticket.

Martina Khurana

“This was a very good experience for the club,” Parsons said. “It was the first time we did a luncheon and it went a lot smoother than anyone expected. We made around $250 that will go towards buying tickets to the musical Fun Home. We also learned that people really, really like stickers with intersectional themes so we’ll definitely be selling more in a few weeks.”

Not only did the luncheon raise money for the club, but it also created knowledge about the club within the study body. The sticker sale and luncheon both brought non-club members into the GSA community. Parsons explained her hopes for the consequence of the luncheon.

“I hope that this brings exposure to the club so that more people will attend meetings,” Parsons said.