No one can last 25 rounds, unless you were at Sex Toy Bingo — which took place Thursday, Dec. 1, from 8 p.m. until midnight. Rowan PRISM hosted the event in Pfleeger Concert Hall at Rowan University. Students could be seen filling up the seats in the auditorium with anticipation of taking home one of the exhilarating prizes.
If students needed a break or had extra time before the game started, they could walk outside the auditorium and enjoy baked goods — such as penis-shaped cookies and vulva-shaped cupcakes for sale from a local LGBTQ+ bakery, Uncle Milton’s Café. The highlight of this bake sale was that 70% of the profits went to support the LGBTQ+ organization Trans Lifeline, a peer support hotline run for and by transgender individuals.
PRISM also partnered with local vendors to give them the opportunity to connect with students on their brand message and educate them on their causes. One vendor that really stood out was Bitch Corner. Arlyn De’Fazio is the owner of Bitch Corner, an Esty store that sells queer-orientated merchandise.
“We sell a lot of queer-oriented products and pins and art and jewelry stickers, products that encompass our brand, where we focus on queer and other marginalized merchandise,” De’Fazio said.
De’Fazio expressed how crucial it was to spread awareness of safe sex and the LGBTIA+ community
“This event means a lot because it promotes both, you know, safe sex and promotes a lot of different communities like, the LGBT community and other things like that. So it means a lot to have an open space that feels safe to come to and respectful,” De’Fazio said.
The prizes consisted of numerous baskets of sex toys lined up for students eagerly awaiting to take them home as they won bingo, thanks to numerous sponsors. Rosie Lucas, event coordinator for Rowan PRISM, gives some insight on the planning process for sex toy bingo.
“A lot of planning goes into it, especially our communication with Fantasy Gifts and then their communication with the vendors that provide for our event every year. It was a lot of donations from a lot of different people. So when it came to planning, we had to figure out food it was a lot of spreadsheets and a lot of spending SGA money,” Lucas said.
Once the event kicked off students could be heard roaring and chanting and enjoying a night out with their peers, however as it became later in the night students could be seen leaving the auditorium and trying to keep themselves awake as those early morning classes began to impact them. But the late-night activity didn’t discourage many students as they wanted to hang around and attempt to win the grand prize, a stripper pole — the true climax of the night.
Students who did stick around were treated to drag performances by Dakota Dekovitch as Buttercréme and Maddie May Prime.
Students who didn’t walk away as winners at the different rounds of bingo still had a chance to win a miniature basket by playing various mini-games that stuck to the theme of the night — such as a twerking competition and a race to label different parts of reproductive organs.
Overall, PRISM was able to raise $1,170 for the Trans Lifeline, and students interested in getting involved with PRISM can attend their meetings on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. in Discovery Hall room 227.
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