Spreading awareness to the DVC community was the goal for the Queer Straight Alliance Club for their event, Speak Out Against ‘H8.’

The event on Nov. 18 included guest speakers, live music and poetry readings in the Student Union plaza.

Despite the low turnout, Jasmine Flores, the president of QSA, hoped the event would attract people experiencing hardships and offer them comfort and support.

“I think that our whole point in coming and doing this whole event is just to show people that… it’s just for that one person that might hear us, might be walking by in the quad and might hear that; you’re going through a really tough time right now and it sucks and you might not know what to do but we’re here to support you because we don’t know what we’re doing either, but we’re all in it together,” Flores said.

Jerrod Espinosa- Setchko, 22, acted as the MC for the event. He reiterated Flores’ point in that people should be aware that hate should end and there are safe places for those who need it.

“I want people to get across the message that regardless of your gender, orientation, birth right growing up, whatever; that you have no dominance over another person,” Espinosa- Setchko said. “You have no reason to speak down to, to hurt, to dramatically warp the mind of someone else because you feel that they are different and somehow beneath you, because that’s just not the case, that does not exist, that is a false belief. That is a faction of the human mind that we made to put others down and it does not work.”

Eden Ritter, an 18-year-old technical theater major, just happened to pass by Speak Out Against H8, and was drawn into Flores’ emotional voice. poetry reading of Andrea Gibson’s The Madness Vase.

“I heard Jasmine’s voice and she’s so powerful… hearing her voice, speaking out about things that I can relate to is powerful and it’s moving,” Ritter said.

Flores reiterated the idea that this is event can be used “as a way to help support students and then educate them at the same time about queer related issues.”

She also understands the hardships that people face their lives.

“Sometimes it’s hard to say that it gets better in the face of adversity but I think that the best thing that you can say to people who are going through things is to say that: here we are, we’re here for you, we’re here to support you,” Flores said.

The QSA Club will be hosting a Transgender Remembrance event on Wed., Nov. 20.