Transcend hosts safe Halloween party

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Halloween is coming up and so are the parties. Transcend, an LGBTQ-friendly group, hosted Halloween Extravaganza.

The party was a safe space for LGBTQ people to enjoy Halloween festivities, said Transcend President Jessamy Orcutt.

“We really want to have a safe place for LGBTQ people in the area to come and hang out and not feel judged for being who they are,” Orcutt said. “It’s going to be a fun time for everybody.”

Iowa Safe Schools was present and gave out candy and information to participants.

Iowa Safe Schools has been around since 2002 and is a non-profit organization that serves LGBTQ youth across the state of Iowa.

“We do that a number of different ways,” said Becky Smith, Iowa GSA network coordinator with Iowa Safe Schools. “One way is through our Iowa GSA network, so we work with gay straight alliance groups in middle schools, high schools and college campuses across the state.”

They try make sure that schools have the necessary resources and support to create safe spaces on campuses, Smith said.

“We also teach our educators and administrators through our Safe Schools Academy,” she said. “We provide license renewal and graduate credits.”

Transcend invited Iowa Safe Schools to be at the extravaganza.

The party “is a safe space for all students to come and just be part of a party and be themselves, which is a amazing,” Smith said. “We just here to support students.”

Iowa Safe Schools handed out candy, stickers and identity buttons.

Iowa Safe Schools works with Charles City High School’s Gay Straight Alliance.

“It’s a great group of students,” Smith said. “We also do bullying intervention services across the state of Iowa.”

There also was a mini haunted house that went around the back hallways of the building and was filled with creepy sitings and smoke generated from a smoke machine.

The party offered trick-or-treating, games, door prizes, costume contest, pumpkin painting, a mini haunted house and music.

This is the first time Transcend has offered this event.

“Transcend has only been an organization since January,” Orcutt said. “So we’re just getting our feet wet in the holiday events.”

Transcend is planning Thanksgiving and Christmas events.

Transcend is an non-profit organization devoted to supporting the transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming community, Orcutt said. They also do LGB outreach.

The group has support group trainings and has a clothing closet and wants to make the world better for the transgender community, Orcutt said.

The event was held in the brick building just inside the fairgrounds entrance.