Organizations associated with the NC State LGBTQ Pride Center hosted their first Howl-O-Ween Ball for LGBTQ+ on Saturday. The event had a significant turnout, a costume contest and engaging music.

JP Curry, a second year studying computer science who worked on advertising for the event, said 180 people RSVP’d, which is nearly triple the number of attendees the organizers expected. 

Drake Gomez, a third-year studying social work and student coordinator for the Pride Center, said the mass of attendees is due to the effort put in by the student orgs. 

“There’s just been like a lot of good leadership coming from the students that really put their heart and effort into this, which I think shows out with all the events and meetings that we do,” Gomez said.

Accessibility was a key part of the event. Curry said the organizations wanted to keep the event as open as possible.

“We don’t want an entry fee or anything like that,” Curry said. “We want it to be a space that’s open to people without restriction. We’re not really blocking people out or restricting people from being able to come in because that could exclude a lot of people and make them feel less welcome.”

Kit Cahill-Wiedenfeld, a second year studying horticulture and president of T-Files, said Halloween and queer people go together.

“We love to celebrate queerness and dressing up and just the queer parts of Halloween, and so we thought it’d be really appropriate to throw an event that’s really special to them,” Wiedenfeld said.

Ace Edwards, a third-year studying anthropology and biology and secretary of T-Files, said Halloween also ties back to villains in media.

“A lot of villains in media are queer-coded,” Edwards said. “So like, Scar, and Ursula, Jafar, a lot of them, even, like Dr. Franken-Furter who’s very clearly transgender-coded. I think it just really resonates with a lot of queer people.”

Many of the students at the event said they felt the event was a very fitting way to celebrate Halloween.

Anna-Lukas Banas, a third-year studying psychology and gender studies, dressed as a sexy Lorax and said Halloween is a gay holiday.

“I think just because of all the creativity that goes into it,” Banas said. “And there’s this idea of dressing up with someone that you’re not which you can analyze deeply about queer culture. But I think it gives you a lot of freedom to dress however you want without fear that you’re going to be ridiculed for it because it’s Halloween. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Banas said their favorite part of the event was seeing everyone walk the runway for the costume contests.

Nathaniel Dibble, a second-year studying political science, dressed as Spider-Punk and said the Ball was fun and comfortable to be a part of.

“I think it opens up a lot more opportunities to express yourself; it removes a lot of social boundaries with presenting however you want,” Dibble said. “I feel like you definitely would not see this range of costumes and expression without it. It feels nice, a safe space to express yourself in Halloween fashion.”

Neo Jarskog, a first-year studying chemical engineering, dressed as Hatsune Miku and said this event was a nice way to get to know NC State’s Pride Center.

“I’m glad that there is a LGBTQ Center here,” Jarskog said. “I mean, I come from Chapel Hill, so I’m very used to having a very supportive environment. And I know that Raleigh is not as accepting. So I went here feeling a little afraid, wondering what it would be like. But having a Pride Center makes me feel more comfortable.”

Other students saw the event somewhat differently. Lliam Rankins, a third-year studying computer science, dressed as sexy Bob Ross and said the Ball wasn’t entirely about being queer.

“I think it’s cool because it’s not even focused on being queer, it’s just like, ‘Hey you’re queer, here’s a Halloween event,’” Rankins said. “We’re not gonna just celebrate the fact that you’re queer, we’re gonna celebrate other things with the people you enjoy being around.”

Wintam Le, a third-year studying creative writing, said she enjoyed having the Pride Center organizations host a Halloween event.

“Halloween in general, it’s a very expressive holiday, I think,” Le said. “So it’s nice to just be expressive with the holiday. Also, it’s nice to have pride events in general.”