Image of the Queer Action Collective Logo, designed by Sarah Dziekan '27.
By Melanie Duronio ’26
Features Editor & managing Editor of the Web
Mount Holyoke College’s newly formed Queer Action Collective is a student group “advocating for queer [and trans] liberation on campus, statewide and nationally,” as stated in the @queeractioncollective Instagram bio. The organization aims to create a space on campus “where students could turn to if they felt like there was a queer and trans issue that needed attention from a collective that wasn’t MHC’s administration,” Vice Chair Aoife Paul Healy ’26 emphasized in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “The extension of ‘on campus, statewide and nationally’ lets us approach any issue brought to us, no matter how big or small.”
“At its core, our goal as I see it is really just to improve life for queer people everywhere (especially around us) in every way we can,” QAC Treasurer Elle Rood ’27 said in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “Whether that's through changing laws or creating access to care or anything else, we want to make things better for our community.”
The QAC announced its status as an official campus organization via Instagram on Nov. 7, 2023, and since then has been spreading word of their work — mainly using their Instagram @queeractioncollective and distributing flyers around campus. QAC Social Manager Mars Bickford believes that Mount Holyoke’s QAC is the first of its kind within the Five College Consortium.
Naoise Grybko ’26, chair of the QAC, initially observed the need for this group. They felt there were no visible spaces dedicated to queer political and social activism, despite the many trans and queer affinity spaces on campus. “There are so many ways in which our campus can improve and so many attacks on queer people in the world that I saw a need for a space for students to engage in activism specifically oriented towards queer issues,” Grybko said.
As an institution, Mount Holyoke prides itself on its DEI efforts and “strives to build and maintain a campus environment that is inclusive, pluralistic and free of discrimination,” claiming these efforts “extend beyond specific departments and are embedded in all areas of the College,” according to the Mount Holyoke College website.
As a nonbinary student, Grybko was particularly drawn to the College’s “inclusive admissions policy,” which they regard as being “arguably the most inclusive … in terms of gender-based admissions policies.”
Indeed, Mount Holyoke is “the most gender-inclusive historic women’s college in the country” and began admitting prospective nonbinary and trans students in 2014, according to the Archives and Special Collections.
However, members of the QAC board agree that there are aspects of campus life today that can and must be improved upon for queer students, specifically those who are Black, Indigenous and students of color.
“Personally, I find a huge lack of coordination for chosen names across campus online platforms. Emails additionally have the first letter of the name the student applied/matriculated with, but if a student changes their name that same letter is in their email, indicating to everyone that they changed their name. Some students may not be comfortable telling people that they changed their name while here, and that's an issue I have personally faced on campus,” Grybko said. “Additionally, as students from the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC noted last year, the College's treatment of queer BIPOC has room for improvement. These are just some of the ways this campus can improve for queer students, and I hope that QAC will be able to make tangible change in these areas.”
“We believed that queer and trans communities needed more than just space to exist, and rather space to make impactful change for themselves and what they believed in. Right now, that kind of space needs to be advocated for, and everyone on our board was excited and willing to put in that effort,” Healy added.
To make this a reality, the organization plans to work on projects that build community, distribute resources and advocate for queer people and students. Next semester, they plan to hold both a free gender-affirming pop-up shop, which will involve purchasing gender-affirming care supplies and distributing them to students, as well as a queer archive event in February.
They will also work on phone banking, where members will assemble as a group to call voters and ask them to support local bills pertaining to LGBTQ+ rights. As the social manager, Mars Bickford ’25 hopes to “have the [organization] gain attraction by holding [these] bigger events next semester and getting the word out about the club (via social media and word of mouth).”
The QAC hopes to partner with other queer groups on campus and in the surrounding area dedicated to queer liberation and other intersecting social justice issues, especially within other historically women’s colleges. They also plan to collaborate with the local high school and middle school queer-affirming organizations in a mentorship role.
Until then, the organization will continue to direct its energy toward the upcoming spring semester by finalizing its constitution and bylaws. Once they have, they will be able to begin formally fighting for queer liberation, just as planned.
“I think queer acceptance is always a work in progress at any large institution. We need to see more intersectional equity across all areas of our campus and culture, and QAC will work in various ways to advance those goals,” Rood said. “Queer liberation is my life's work in many ways. As a transgender woman and queer person, I want my community to have equitable opportunities to live our lives and thrive. I hope all people can join me in that important work.”