Queer People of Color (QPOC) and Students for Reproductive Justice (SRJ) collaborated for the first time at the annual Kink Gardner in Main Hall to promote harm reduction and alleviate stress amongst hosts through task delegation.
In 2024, QPOC shifted to hosting Kink alone for the first time without the Sexual Health Information Center (SHIC), which presented difficulties in workload and safety management.
“It was nice to just be like, ‘if you need anything, go to the table upstairs, they got you,’ which kind of allowed us to focus on being present in the event,” said QPOC President Dayana Garcia `26.
After a successful tabling event at 10/10, Grinnell’s student-run all-day tradition of collective partying, members of SRJ were inspired to take their sexual health tabling idea to Kink.
“I feel like Kink is one of those things that is very linked to some aspects of reproductive justice,” said SRJ co-leader Annabel Andre `28.
Garcia said SRJ’s table location on the first floor in Main Hall became a main hub for activity away from the event itself.
Students could step away from loud noise or the hot and sweaty atmosphere as needed.
SRJ provided gatorade, water, snacks and ear plugs in addition to sexual resources like condoms, Plan B and lube.
One of the main responsibilities that QPOC gave to SRJ was handing out wristbands to people that asked for them.
Garcia said at events held by QPOC, they have created a wristband system for people to easily tell if the person they are talking to is interested in hooking up that night.
She said this is important for clarity to make the process of talking to others clearer and easier.
SRJ also included games such as reproductive justice cup pong — a non-alcoholic version of beer pong that gave students the chance to answer trivia and win a piece of candy if they made their ball into the cup.
The co-leaders agreed that activities like this were popular due to students’ openness that comes with attending popular events like Kink.
Andre said tabling for Kink felt much less disheartening than tabling SRJ has done in front of the dining hall, where people are more likely to ignore and walk past them.
“When people are drunk they tend to be more chatty and willing to engage,” said SRJ co-leader Amelie Pfister `28.
All three SRJ co-leaders agreed the event was a greater success than expected and said this could open up ideas for additional collaboration with other student groups.
Adrienne Gassaway `28, SRJ co-leader, said that they have been struggling with attendance in SRJ meetings for a while now.
“Collaborating with big events like this, that people have already reserved time for and are excited about and integrating into the culture rather than trying to do everything completely separate from everything else is very helpful,” said Gassaway.
