Queer Student Life at Mason

The spread of Mason’s queer community has evolved at the same time as Mason itself. Many safe spaces have spawned throughout the years, whether as clubs, events, or resource centers. 

Clubs and Community

The Pride Alliance was one of the Registered Student Organizations that made a home at Mason. The organization was established in 1989 by queer students for queer students, and helped to arrange events such as Pride Week from the '90s and into the 2000s. There have been drag shows, at least some organized by the Pride Alliance, since 1997!

But the Pride Alliance was not the only space that made students feel safe. Students such as Lindsay Lowry found safety in other clubs, and among faculty members. Lindsay spoke about his experience across a few different facets of Mason including the Speech and Debate team, the Women and Gender Studies Resource Center, and his time with staff like Dr. David Powers Corwin. 

The speech and debate team was a place where Lindsay first felt safe at Mason, having attended the summer camps in high school. For Lindsay, the fellow students and staff members made the environment very comfortable, allowing him to express his queerness, especially through literature and exposure to a variety of theory (e.g. Queer Theory). The debate team was able to aid in shaping perspective for any of those who joined, not just queer students. Proving that safety for queer students can be anywhere and can benefit all students.

"...[I]n policy debate in Ohio, it's pretty conservative, or, like, at the time it was in terms of, you were only allowed to debate about things that had to do with the U.S. government, like, you weren't really allowed to go into, like, anti-blackness theory or queerness or anything like that. And so, I wasn't really exposed to any of those, like, theories until I came to debate camp. So I think I really felt comfortable in high school coming, and I always, like, look forward to the summer because of, like, the queer staff and just, like, getting to, like, interact with them..." -Lindsay Lowry

As time passes at Mason, queer students find their homes within the fabric of the community. Friendgroups, clubs, sororities, and many more have all contributed to making Mason students feel safe and included.

Rolling Stone mentions Ms Mason

Drag at Mason

Since 1997 Mason has held a Drag Show during Pride Week. The long legacy of drag at Mason has exhibited community throughout the years. Performers big and small have been invited, and the performances have been a major part of Pride Week for a long time.  

In 2009, George Mason received a lot of buzz for electing a drag queen as Ms Mason, the homecoming queen. Ryan Allen, also known as Reanne Ballslee, recieved coverage of her crowning in major publications like CBS8, NBC4, and even had a mention in Rolling Stone. In an interview with CBS8, Reanne said that Mason was very supportive. She even has the quote "It says a lot about the campus that not only do we have diversity but we celebrate it." 

The longevity of featured drag performances has made it a little shocking that there was no drag show this year (2025), raising some questions as for the reason why. Unfortunately, our group was unable to turn over that stone, and the question remains unsolved.

AIDS Walk and AIDS Quilt at Mason 

George Mason University students participated in multiple AIDS Walks in Washington, DC, with one of them being in 1997. During that year, the GMU AIDS Walk team raised $8,600 to combat the AIDS epidemic. 

The following images shows the involvement of George Mason University’s student group, Pride Alliance (the original title of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center Group), at multiple AIDS Walks in Washington, DC. These involvements date back to as early as 1993, as shown by David Taylor’s, Co-chair of the Pride Alliance, picture. 

Mason’s queer community and population, fronted by the Pride Alliance (later LGBTQ+ Resource Center), has always been actively participating in political activism. To see more details on protests, refer to the “Counter Protests” section of this exhibit.