Oakland University Pride Month events include 'The Queer Agenda' and 'Black Trans Visionaries'
Oakland University is in the middle of its student 'Pride Month' celebrations, which includes events on 'Black Trans Visionaries' and 'The Queer Agenda.'
'Pride Month reminds our LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty that they are understood, valued and celebrated at Oakland University,' one school official writes.
Oakland University is in the middle of its student “Pride Month” celebrations, which includes events on “Black Trans Visionaries” and “The Queer Agenda.”
The public university based in Rochester, Michigan has scheduled its Pride Month for March 10 through April 10; universities frequently recognize the occasion for students in April during the academic year instead of June, the official designation.
“Pride Month reminds our LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty that they are understood, valued and celebrated at Oakland University,” Blake Ilan, a coordinator for the university’s Gender and Sexuality Center, said in an announcement of the events.
Throughout the month, the university’s Gender and Sexuality Center is leading weekly meetings through a program called “QTPOC @ OU” to discuss LGBT themes; “QTPOC” stands for “Queer and Trans People of Color.”
Ilan told Campus Reform that “QTPOC @ OU is a weekly discussion and social group cosponsored by the Gender & Sexuality Center and the Center for Multicultural Initiatives” that “aims to provide space for OU students to discuss how they experience the intersecting impacts of racism, heterosexism/homophobia/queerphobia, and cissexism/transphobia/sexism.”
The Pride Month discussions will include themes like “Celebrating Black Trans Visionaries,” “Being QTPOC in This Political Climate” and “Ballroom & Drag QTPOC History.”
Students who attend “Celebrating Black Trans Visionaries” will discuss “Black transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming visionaries and revolutionaries.”
Ilan told Campus Reform that the presentation on “Celebrating Black Trans Visionaries” will “highlight the accomplishments and contributions of Black transgender activists, scholars, community leaders, artists, and beyond.”
A separate weekly discussion group called “The Queer Agenda” will have meetings on “Trans Visibility, Advocacy, and Allyship” and “Drag is Political.”
[RELATED: Boston University celebrating ‘Trans Day of Visibility’ by performing tarot card readings]
A description for the “Queer Agenda” says that the program is “where LGBTQ+ students and allies work together to grow as leaders, build political literacy, and engage in mutual aid.”
“As we grow together, we can then begin to strategize for LGBTQ+ rights on campus, locally, and nationally,” it continues.
In total, Oakland University is organizing 19 Pride Month events, which also include a drag show, Lavender Graduation for LGBTQ-identifying students, “Pride Prom,” a “Trans Visibility March” and “Gender Affirming Resource Fair.”
Last November, the university organized an event called “Transgiving” just two days before Thanksgiving. The Gender and Sexuality Center described it as “a trans-affirming and sober family-holiday-style autumn meal to OU students.”
Campus Reform has contacted Oakland University and the Gender and Sexuality Center for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
