Eddins, co-chair of QSA as well as co-president of HUBBS, said that he was frustrated that QSA did not provide support for queer students interested in business. According to Eddins, QSA is “very anti-corporate.”

“There is no recruiting pathway for BGLTQ students [at Harvard], and other schools have one,” he said.

While HUBBS is currently a subgroup of QSA, Eddins said he is hoping to make it an independent organization in the future.

Other organizations designed to cater to sub-groups within the queer community include HBASIS, a group formed last year for queer students interested in the sciences, and BlackOut, another recently revived group for queer and black students.

The issue of inclusivity in Harvard’s queer community also involves political outlook, according to Suslovic, who said the perceived radicalism in the community can alienate newcomers.

Eddins concurs, adding that he thinks “there is a competition within the queer community in being the most progressive...which contributes to a community of ostracization and hostility.”

Yet others like Sasanka N. Jinadasa ’15, a member of Gay Lesbian Or Whatever, a group for queer students of color, think this is, to some extent, unavoidable.

“Everything trans and queer people do is politicized, for better or for worse,” Jinasada said. She added Harvard’s demographics, which tend left of the political spectrum, are reflected in many student groups and might add to this outlook.

DISCONNECTED SPACES

While students say that the creation of new and spin-off groups has increased inclusivity, some said they believe that this has caused fragmentation within the community.

Suslovic said part of the problem is that many of these groups are too small to effectively function. But Joshua D. Blecher-Cohen ’16, a member of the queer Jewish group BAGELS, said that if students with a common identity wish to create a space for themselves, the size of the group should not matter.

“[The groups] don’t need a certain quota to exist,” he said. “You can’t say, ‘Oh no, your queer group, your queer interest isn’t valid—you don’t reach a certain number of people.’”

Another issue is collaboration between different groups. While Director of the Office of BGLTQ Student Life Van Bailey said that student groups are “intentional” in their collaborations, Suslovic argued that queer groups should move beyond co-sponsorships of events and certain “surface-level interactions” to pursue meaningful dialogue about inclusion and accessibility.

Blecher-Cohen acknowledged the need for communication and cooperation between the student groups, and said that the Queer Advisory Council, founded a year ago, helps to address these concerns. The QuAC, as it is called by some students, was established to bring representatives from queer organizations together to discuss community issues.

“[The QuAC] provides a space where student leaders can talk to each other about programming and opportunities for substantive collaboration,” said Blecher-Cohen, a former co-chair of the council. “As the QuAC grows, that will happen more and more.”