How a college entrepreneur built Boston Queer Club – one pink fingernail at a time

The Ethan Idi counter is filled with pink nail polish bottles.

Babson College student, who enters his senior year, studying entrepreneurship, likes to maintain a pink painted nail, a symbol of his membership in the Boston Queer Club.

It is a social group that he founded for members of the LGBTQ+ community of university age and a symbol of his commitment to inclusion and acceptance.

“What we do in Boston is to build a model for the community and how to create a community,” said IDE.

He grew up in Los Angeles, where he attended a Jesuit school in all the boys. He said that when he came out as a gay, he did not have many ways to connect with other people who had similar experiences, and although he tried to start a “gay-Straight Alliance” club at his school, the school administration was receded.

It was not until IDE, 21, used dating applications that he met Gai people. However, applications were not a good place to make friends because there were always chains stuck, he said.

He hoped that his community expanded when he arrived at college, but even then he was disappointed by the options. Babson had a group of LGBTQ+ students and resources for students at the Office of Belief and Inclusion, but most meetings and events focused on education, not knowing others and having fun.

“I started meeting people who had stories very similar to me, and they all said the same. And in the end, it was,” Ethan. Don’t understand. There are no people like me. I have no gay friends like you, you don’t get it, “he said.

“There were several people who cried on my shoulders saying these things to me, and I was like, I succeed,” he added. “I understand the problem and I will try to do something about it.”

In the spring of 2023, IDE arose with the idea of ​​Boston Queer Club and began to investigate how it could begin.

He interviewed 25 students in schools from all over the country about their social life and sexualities to do an idea of ​​what their club should be. He visited the LGBTQ+ spaces at almost all Boston schools to get to know the staff and find out what the programming worked and what not.

He learned that, like him, many students felt that their options were very limited to meeting people unless they used an application to find a date. For students who were 21 years old, they could have a nearby bar or club that could go, but those who were minors were out of luck.

Even the social opportunities sponsored by the school that existed were not always suitable, IDE said.

“When I talked to all of these queer students, they felt they weren’t enough to be in these clubs. They were super intimidated,” he said. “They didn’t know where to start.”

In the following April, Boston Queer Club celebrated its opening comedy program at the Cambridge Community Center, which performed in a Boston University improvisation group. Last summer, they celebrated their first concert, and in the fall of 2024 they jumped to a series of four events, both comedy and concerts.

During the last spring semester, IDE said that he and his team of five or six volunteers from the Boston schools doubled the number of events, with an average of about 30 attendees per event. They also provided about four times the income of ticket sales than in the fall, which goes back to financing more events.

One of the most important components of Boston Queer Club is the “Pink Promise”, the origin of the Pink Nail Pink Collection. To join -BQC, potential members must simply accept all club events with respect, empathy, compassion and acceptance to ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome.

When painting a pink nail, BQC members indicate that they have made this promise and have also received admission and other advantages in events.

With attacks on LGBTQ+ people passing all over the country, IDE said, as security has been especially important for the people we are talking about.

“When someone shows up at an event with a single pink painted nail, he promises to be a safe, supportive and inclusive member of our community,” he said. “And then when you are in a pink nail room, you see that other people have made you this promise.”

The Boston Queer Club team organized three events for this summer, including their first open night of microphone on June 6. They also gathered a group to go to the Boston Pride parade on June 14, followed by a concert that night.

In the fall, IDE said he hopes to hold at least eight events and introduce more variety in his programming, such as arts and craft nights, a book club, picnics or a club’s night.

But it also has much larger aspirations for the club, starting with a merch line and, of course, a BQC brand pink enamel. In a few years, he hopes that the organization will be extended to other cities with many people of university age, but few LGBTQ+resources.

“It is a small but powerful organization that we have built here,” said IDE.