For “The Girls,” a night out is about more than an outfit or posting up for photos. It’s about finding the people who get it. That’s the idea behind the social club, which was started by a Howard University student seeking to bring together women from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
The club’s organizing team is passionate about building an intentional space where Black and brown queer and masculine-presenting women can express themselves authentically and find friendships.
Temprince Battle, a junior psychology and sociology double major from Athens, Georgia, is the president and founder of The Girls. She said the club began knowing that she “didn’t have any masc friends,” and when she researched what other masc social clubs were doing, she found there weren’t any at all.
Howard offers third spaces including the LGBTQ+ Resource Center and the university’s official LGBTQ+ student organization, CASCADE, but Battle said that the audience The Girls invites is more “niche” and expects to meet more often, with biweekly events and online meetings twice a week.
“There’s a stigma in our community that we’re all secretly in competition, and I know I don’t feel that way, and I know other masculine women don’t feel that way,” Battle said. “There’s a gap in my community, so who better to host it than me?”
On Aug. 21, the group hosted and sold out their first event. With a 90s theme and R&B music playing on the rooftop of the National Union Building for their launch event, the kickback turned party received a positive response.
The Girls’ vice president, Car’ Lia Corbin, who resides in New Jersey and commutes for the organization’s events, said that their targeted community showed up.
“We were predicted to sell between 50 to 60 tickets. We sold over 125. We had a waitlist of over 90 people and we could only let 10 in,” Corbin said, who graduated from a Howard graduate school in 2025. “The people are there. People want this, so that’s just giving us more motivation to put love and effort into everything.”
Battle said that while it took work to get the club off the ground, especially with this being her first leadership position, it was about finding supportive people who worked with her as she learned to navigate the role.
Lakiyah Gale, a senior sports medicine major from Baltimore, Maryland, is part of the fundraising team and said it was special how fast they connected.
“It was an instant click, and I feel we’re all growing closer and closer together. It’s about having people that look like you and have the same experiences that you have,” Gales said.
The other half of the fundraising team is Morgan Taylor, a junior criminology major from Chicago. She said that while tokenism in the masculine community is prevalent, it doesn’t feel that way with The Girls.
“I feel with most mascs, you’re just the ‘token masc’ in the friend group, so it’s nice being surrounded by a bunch of mascs and studs,” Taylor said. “To be in something so specific to what you are really does feel like you have a family.”
Battle said that she wanted to find people who would show up for the mission just as they are. With official accounts on apps including Instagram and TikTok, The Girls have boosted their engagement with a post from Corbin’s personal account promoting their first event. Commenters were interested in attending, with phrases like “I like this!” or “I don’t need any more convincing.”
“One key part was broadcasting my idea to social media. Telling people this is who I am. This is what I want to start, and if you are also passionate about building a community for people that look like us, hit me up,” she explained.
The social media manager, Andie Adams, a senior marketing major from Brooklyn, New York, said the social club is important to her because it’s unlike anything she’s seen before.
“Everybody should have a space where they can be completely themselves. So, it’s nice to have and cultivate this space because it’s definitely one of one,” Adams said.
Aamori Freeman, a senior computer science major from Baltimore, Maryland, is the director of creative operations. She said the turnout at their event proved there’s a need for this in the community, given the “crazy turnout” they had.
“I think this is such a great opportunity. Everything that Temprince is doing, I resonate with it so deeply, and any way I can give back, that’s what I want to do,” Freeman said.
The Girls said they hope to grow this club beyond the DMV area to other Black hubs like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Across the board, they recommended staying tuned for future events.
“I’m grateful to have a really supportive team who are with me every step of the way and working with me as I learn and grow as a leader,” Battle said.
Copy edited by Jori Johnson
A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled the names of Lakiyah Gale and Jadyn Hood, and incorrectly identified Car’ Lia Corbin’s education. It was also revised to accurately reflect the locations the organization hosts their events. The errors were corrected on Aug. 31.