Caltech Float Brings “Space for Everyone” to L.A. Pride Parade

Caltech parade participants dance joyfully through the streets of Hollywood (Photo – J. Ehlert, Caltech)

Members of the Caltech community brought their whole selves to LA Pride. On June 9, postdocs, grad students, undergraduates, and staff marched alongside Caltech’s very first float—themed “Space for Everyone”—as part of the LA Pride Parade in Hollywood.

By Julia Ehlert/Caltech

Caltech participants in the parade this year enthusiastically displayed their passion for science, STEM outreach, art, music, and dance, as well as their LGBTQ identities, in a true embodiment of Caltech pride.

Sofia Fatigoni, a postdoctoral scholar research associate in physics, who serves as diversity and inclusion co-chair of the Caltech Postdocs Association (CPA), conceived the idea to enter a Caltech float after attending the LA Pride Parade last year and realizing the Institute was not represented in the event.

“I wanted to see the Caltech community involved in Pride to show that our differences are something that enrich the community,” Fatigoni says. “I also feel that it’s always good to be a role model for people who are still in the closet and are scared or think it’s bad to be different. I want to show that you can be a successful person and also be gay or bi or trans—it’s just normal, and there’s nothing to be scared of.”

Fatigoni, who is originally from Perugia, Italy, says she didn’t hear that message of hope often during her childhood.

“If you come from a small town in Italy, and you come out [as LGBTQ], the first thing that people are going to tell you is, ‘If you [are openly queer], your life is going to be so difficult. You’re not going to make it. It’s going to be so hard to get a job or go ahead with your life.’ And that’s why I want to show people that we are at Caltech, we made it, and so you can make it too.”

Fatigoni’s fellow CPA co-chair of diversity and inclusion, Riccardo Caniato, who is also from Italy, shares the sentiment. He says the fear of judgment was pervasive while growing up, but Pride was a uniquely accepting space.

Along with leadership from CPA chair Nivedita Mahesh, Caltech’s participation in the parade was supported by Graduate Student Council co-chair Matteo Guareschi. The design and construction of Caltech’s float itself—a truck with a 16-foot bed decorated with painted banners, planets, and a moon—was led by graduate student Catherine Romero.

In the LA Pride Parade, the Caltech float followed a contingent from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Members from both groups mingled and posed for a photo in the assembly area before the parade began.

As the parade progressed through the streets of Hollywood, Caltech participants—led by Mahesh—danced to LGBTQ anthems. Others handed out stickers to parade attendees. Atop the float, Romero, Caniato, and Fatigoni (who was wearing an astronaut suit) waved to screaming fans.

This article has been edited for clarity and brevity.