This year’s annual LGBTQIA+ summit was held on Feb. 21. The ETHS-run summit is attended by members of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as allies searching for more insight on the subject. The entire summit had a theme of “Rooted in Pride, Students United in Solidarity”.

“This year it is a new planning committee, and we are coming off the heels of some amazing people,” said staff summit organizer and Student Success Center Specialist Jennifer Smith. 

Despite the new leaders, the day took on a familiar form, students were able to choose the breakout sessions and activities that they attended, and the day ended with a keynote speaker and drag show. 

“I’ve been to the summit before and it was nice but not as fun as this year, although the drag show was still good,” said one senior, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

However, the summit organizers hope to bring new life into the summit next year by way of student involvement, as it has been predominantly staff planned in years past. 

“Next year I want it to be more student involved. I think the last few years it has been mostly adult and even this year I think with the new team we were just trying to get our footing,” said Smith. “We’ve had some students help out a little bit here and there but not nearly as much as we would like to.”

The idea is to allow prior student attendees to have a hand in creating new activities, angling the experience around maximizing the fun and community building.

For those who have already experienced their last LGBTQIA+ summits at ETHS, the experience left them with ideas for improvement.

“I wanted to see better break out groups, the good ones filled up and I wish there were more activities and fewer conversations,” said the senior attendee.

Although there were suggestions for improvement, the drag show that closed out the day remained popular.

“To enjoy a drag performance together and feel the joy and excitement of watching an art form rooting in queerness was really impactful,” said the senior.