The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College student group OUTfront hosts the first ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Pride Festival, starting with an outdoor concert at noon Thursday, May 5, on the lawn at the student residence at 280 College St.<\/p>\n
The concert features the band Time Travelers; two student a cappella groups, the Crosstones and the Merimanders; and the Dynasty Step Team, a dance ensemble. The event includes a barbecue, face painting, T-shirt decorating and a table with information about organizations and resources for LGBT people and allies. The rain site is the Bunker, the 280 College St. basement. For more information, please contact nrankine@bates.edu.<\/p>\n
The festival continues through May 12 with a poetry reading, a drag show, a campus-wide gathering to pledge solidarity and other programming. Except as noted, events are open to the public at no cost. Sponsoring the festival are the offices of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ President Elaine Tuttle Hansen, the dean of students and Intercultural Studies; the women and gender studies program; and the politics department.<\/p>\n
For festival information, please contact ddumayas@bates.edu or 808-398-9131.<\/p>\n
“My hope is that the festival will promote greater visibility for queer students, faculty and staff, and will also create greater solidarity within the community and allies,” says Don Dumayas, a festival organizer and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ senior from Honolulu.<\/p>\n
A “Pride Poetry Reading” is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the Ronj, the student-run ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ coffeehouse at 32 Frye St. Students will read poetry expressing themes of pride, solidarity, visibility and diversity. Chai, tea and cookies will be served.<\/p>\n
At 7 p.m. that day, the drag show “Lewistunning Dragapalooza” takes place in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. Organized by Outright L\/A with OUTFront, the performance features Miss Eon, Goldie Peacock, Kings of the Hill and others, including ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student performers. Tickets are $10\/$5. For more information, please contact Outright L\/A at 207-795-8956 or penny.sargent@outrightla.org.<\/p>\n
This is the third annual “Lewistunning Dragapalooza” at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, Dumayas said. “It’s a great way to bring together not only OUTfront and Outright L\/A but also students and Maine residents. Drag shows are fun because they’re so campy and entertaining.”<\/p>\n
A “Queer and Allies Dinner” will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, May 9, in Frye Street Union, 29 Frye St.<\/p>\n
Ryan Conrad, a member of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ class of 2005, leads the discussion “Against Equality” at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in Room G21, Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk). Conrad will analyze from a queer perspective the rights-based discourse used by the national campaigns for gay marriage.<\/p>\n
He examines how this mobilization collapses the queer political imagination into the narrow confines of contemporary gay pragmatism as espoused by gay and lesbian neoconservatives and so-called progressives alike. For more information, please contact rconrad@meca.edu.<\/p>\n
The Pride Festival wraps up with an “Athlete Ally” event that will bring together the campus community, including student-athletes and coaches, at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 12, on the Library Quad behind Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave. The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletic department co-sponsors this event. For more information, please contact director of athletics Kevin McHugh at kmchugh@bates.edu.<\/p>\n
Offering the opening address is Hudson Taylor, a former wrestler at the University of Maryland and now an assistant coach at Columbia University, who began an Athlete Allies initiative centered around athletes signing a pledge to respect and value individual differences both on and off the field. The event will include a panel discussion on the theme “Respect for All Individuals,” a group pledge signing and a barbecue for participants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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