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Campus community shows pride
in self with Pride Week events

The Pride Center and Queer Straight Alliance club will hold their annual Pride Week events April 21-25. And this year, they’re gaining support from an array of campus departments and organizations.

An additional seven campus departments and organizations, in conjunction with the PRIDE Center and QSA, will help sponsor Pride Week events making the goals of Alexa Harris, PRIDE Center coordinator and QSA administration chair, a reality.

“My main goal for this week was to get many departments on campus to be involved,” Harris says. “It’s so empowering to see that we have support from these big departments on campus who aren’t necessarily part of the LGBTIQQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer, Questioning and Ally) community.”

Pride Week will kick-off Monday, April 21 with informational booths in the Library Quad and music provided by KSSU. Julia Serano, author of the Whipping Girl and a spokesperson for the Transgender community, will join the week events with a presentation at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 22 in the University Union Ballroom III.

The popular campus guessing game “Guess Who’s Gay” will be presented from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 23. Audience members will have the chance to ask panel members a series of questions before guessing their sexual orientation or what part of the community they belong to.

“'Guess Who’s Gay' breaks down the stereotypes of what gay and lesbian is,” Harris says, noting that the audiences’ guesses are typically far from actuality.

The “Kings of Drag” will take center stage from 7-9 p.m., Thursday, April 24, in the University Union Hinde Auditorium for performances that include acting and singing.

To close out Pride Week events, the seventh annual “Gender Bender Extravaganza” will take place from 7-9 p.m., Friday, April 25 in the University Union Hinde Auditorium, a favorite for Harris. “People in the community get to dress up and be fun and airy—it’s people telling their story.”

April 25 marks the national Day of Silence, a day that recognizes those who have been silenced by hate crimes.  

“The purpose of Pride Week is to give the campus community and the community as a whole a sense of comfort—to be proud of who you are,” Harris says.

For more information on the Pride Week events, contact the Pride Center at 278-8720. For more information on the Day of Silence, visit www.dayofsilence.org.