Members of the LGBTQ+ community at Elgin Community College may be interested in a support group on campus aimed at providing a space to express themselves.

Pride Talk is an LGBTQ+ only support group led by Wellness Professional Coresair Mack. The group meets every Thursday 3-4 p.m. in room B253.

Pride Talk started in 2016 with Vincent Cascio running the group. At the time, Cascio was a Students Who Are Not Silent (SWANS) advisor and a counselor with ECC. In the summer of 2022, Mack took over running the group and has been running the group every fall and spring semester since. 

The group normally opens with introductions from those in attendance which is also an opportunity for students to express how they are feeling and how their week is going. After introductions are done, students have a much more freeform opportunity to bring up anything they would like to discuss. 

Every week also has a topic of the day that is presented by Mack. The topics are either prepared by Mack for the group or are suggested by group members.

Past topics have covered topics of gender and sexual identity, trans athletes in sports, legislation, ways to advocate for themselves, and other current events that students may wish to discuss in a supportive space.

According to Mack, a session averages 4 students. The students that attend change often due to homework, work, and other commitments. 

In the past, there have been collaborations between Pride Talk and SWANS but because Mack is currently the only wellness professional at ECC, he hasn’t had the time to coordinate with them. 

“But if they are willing to, I would never say no to a collaboration opportunity,” Mack said.

Mack seemed optimistic that more wellness professionals will be hired soon.

Students that may need help that another department is better equipped to handle are referred and sometimes walked to the office.

“We also help connect with resources outside of ECC as well,” Mack said. “We make sure that [these services] are LGBTQ+ friendly. We wouldn’t refer someone to somewhere that they could potentially be in danger.”

For more information about the Pride Talk support group contact the wellness department by email at [email protected] or by phone at 847-214-7390.