SRU celebrates LGBTQ+ people with Pride Month events
The Slippery Rock University community will celebrate Pride Month with a mix of in person and virtual events in October to promote empowerment, awareness and education about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning people.
Oct. 5, 2020
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — October is Pride Month at Slippery Rock University, as the University's Pride Center has organized several events with student organizations and other campus partners to promote empowerment, awareness and education about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning people.
The month was chosen in conjunction with the national LGBT History Month and there will be a mix of in-person and virtual events ranging from panel discussions and movies to trivia games and the annual drag show.
"The slogan of Pride Month is 'Out and Proud' and we're excited and proud to recognize the diverse identities and lives of the LGBTQ+ community," said Lyosha Gorshkov, director of SRU's Pride and Women's Centers. "This is an important time to amplify our voices, celebrate our diversity and understand our intersectionalities."
Intersectionality is a term that refers to the discrimination and disadvantages that affect people from overlapping social categories, such as race, class or gender. People of all backgrounds and identities are invited to attend and participate in Pride Month events throughout October.
The week begins Oct. 5-9 with a social media campaign titled "#SRUNIQUE: Gender & Sexuality" as social media accounts from the Women's Center ( @sruwomenscenter) and Pride Center ( @srupridecenter) will share content related to Pride Month and LGBT History Month.
Other Pride Month events include:
- Trans Embodiment: Mapping New Pathways in Health Care Institutions, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 6, a discussion on Zoom (password: transyes) hosted by SRU's gender studies program about health care opportunities and strategies for transgender individuals.
- Queers Beyond Borders, noon, Oct. 13, a panel discussion on Zoom hosted by the Pride Center with guest panelists from Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Russia and the U.S. sharing stories of coming out, queer activism and the queer experience from around the world.
- Queer Kahoot, 7 p.m., Oct. 14, a trivia game on Zoom hosted by RockOUT with questions related to queer knowledge.
- Outer Space and Inner Space: Art and Homosexuality, 5 p.m., Oct. 15, hosted by the Pride Center via Zoom as artist Bill Travis will talk about his photography, paying special attention to the dialogue it establishes with earlier representations of same-sex desire.
- "Stonewall," 8 p.m., Oct. 16, in the Smith Student Center theater, a movie hosted by Slippery Rock Student Government Association.
- "The Miseducation of Cameron Post," 8 p.m., Oct. 17, in the SSC theater, a movie hosted by SRSGA.
- Virtual Drag Show, 7 p.m., Oct. 21, hosted by RockOUT on YouTube, starring drag queens Kardi Redd Diamond, Silver Uzumaki and Jade Uzumaki. The first 20 people to RSVP on CORE will be invited to a watch party in the SSC theater and given a free pride mask.
- Transgender Remembrance Vigil, 6 p.m., Oct. 22, in The Quad, hosted by the Pride Center to remember LGBTQ+ lives that have been lost.
- COVID Canoodling: Sex, Intimacy and Sexual Health, 6:30 p.m., Oct. 26, a discussion on Zoom hosted by HOPE Peer Educators and the Pride Center about the COVID impact on sexual well-being and intimacy, and how to protect yourself while enjoying your intimate life.
For more information about Pride Month events, contact the Pride Center at 724.738.4378 or aleksei.gorshkov@sru.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu