Anchor has humble beginnings, starting as an online LGBTQ+ support group. It has since been re-established as the Gender and Sexuality Cell, BITS Pilani. The Oasis English Press sat down with Akshaya Venugopal, the coordinator of Anchor, to talk about the club and its activities leading up to Oasis.

Anchor is conducting three events for Oasis, the first one being an online poster design contest. Their signature event is going to be the Pride March, which will be held on November 22, 2022, from 4:00–6:00 PM The club is also setting up a pride booth which will include various props to click photos and activities like nail-painting.

While Anchor had organised similar events during Apogee, the club is gearing up to have a bigger and better version of the events this time. They will be incorporating posters and other educational content that will help raise awareness about the issues that are commonly faced by the community. Akshaya also dropped a reference to an ‘incident’ with the bees during their last Pride March, which they will make sure to avoid this time.

Speaking about her experience as the coordinator, Akshaya mentioned that it has definitely been challenging. ‘The workforce for Anchor is pretty small. Also being a second year, I don’t have too much experience myself. But a lot of seniors were willing to help,’ she added.

To conclude, Akshaya said, ‘Even if you don’t have really high standards about the queer community, I want you to just come and see our Pride March because I feel like the Pride March is a huge display of love. Everyone has the right to be who they are. It is supposed to be a celebration of positivity. Maybe you will change your opinions on what you think about the community, maybe you won’t, totally up to you but just give us a chance and visit our March.’