ETSU’s SAGA Holds Gender-Affirming Clothing Swap

On Feb. 27, East Tennessee State University’s chapter of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) held its third semesterly Gender-Affirming Clothing Swap during their general meeting.

The clothing swap is an event where members of SAGA bring used clothes they no longer wear for others to take, with a focus on providing clothing for transgender students who may not be able to afford clothes that affirm their gender. Members of the organization arranged articles of clothing and shoes on the frontmost tables of the room.

“It's a really nice way to get rid of clothes that you don't want that might not match the way you want to present, and a good way to get clothes that you prefer, and that do match the way you want to present, because sometimes — I know for me — my parents weren’t gonna help me out with that, and I didn't have the money to get myself a new wardrobe,” Oliver Henry, vice president of SAGA, said. “It was a really good chance for me to get clothes that I actually felt very comfortable in and I remember bringing some of my more feminine clothes and a couple of trans[gender] girls being really happy to see them, so that was nice.”

According to some students, purchasing new clothes can be prohibitively expensive for college students in general but this is especially true for transgender students. Some discover their gender identity in college, while others are in an environment where they feel comfortable dressing in a gender-affirming way for the first time, and others are still experimenting with how they want to present themselves. Many of these students may be rebuilding their wardrobes from scratch.

“Even thrifting, you can spend a lot of money,” said Mark McGregor, one of SAGA’s officers.  “And the problem with thrifting is you can sometimes not be able to try stuff on, they might not have something that fits or they might not have something of your style, so this is both an economically and environmentally friendly way to give people the resources they need.”

SAGA has been holding the clothing swap since spring 2024, a relatively short period in comparison to the organization’s decade of history on ETSU’s campus.

Henry explained how the chapter’s leadership got the idea to host the event. 

“I think it just came up in one of the officer meetings when we were trying to brainstorm ideas [for meetings], because a couple of us talked about a few different things of like, ‘How could we set up a meeting where people can get rid of feminine stuff, and get masculine stuff if they want it?’ or vice versa, and clothes just seemed like a good thing to do, because I think one of us had maybe cleaned out a closet, or had some extra clothes that maybe we could bring,” he said. 

Henry also expressed interest in collaborating with ETSU’s Pride Center for a future clothing swap-style event for an additional educational element, and to have a place to donate leftover clothes from the event.  

When SAGA isn’t holding events like the Gender-Affirming Clothing Swap, the organization is providing in other ways for the LGBTQ community on campus, particularly under the new presidential administration. Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has signed multiple executive orders targeting transgender individuals, including a ban on gender-affirming care for people under 19, a ban on transgender athletes in sports and a decree that the United States only recognizes two sexes: male and female. During this time, SAGA is giving queer students a place to build community and ride out the turbulence and uncertainty. 

“I think with how hostile the current system is towards queer people and trans people, having community is really important, because you can feel very alone during times like this, and having a place to gather — even if you don't even know anybody there — it's just nice knowing people around you who understand what you're going through and sympathize with you,” said Pepper Green, one of SAGA’s freshman members.

ETSU’s chapter of SAGA hosts general meetings weekly, which are held on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in room 337 of Lamb Hall. Their meetings serve as casual socials for queer students to chat and have fun. According to Nat Vaughn, SAGA’s president, members will often draw in sketchbooks, play video games on Nintendo Switches and trade trading cards.

“I think, especially in the state that we're in — in this part of the country — you can really feel like everything's been turned against you and so where we are standing right now, SAGA serves as a really important facet to the ETSU community in providing a safe place for queer students to exist, be themselves and have fun with each other,” Green said.