‘We’re celebrating your experience, your survival, your existence’

A week of queer celebration is in store during Clark’s 2024 Pride Week, with a slate of events organized under the theme “a fairy good time.”

The festivities run March 12-20 and include a drag performance, a film screening, Clark student-athletes sporting pride shirts at their games, and more.

“Pride Week is about celebrating ourselves, our lives, and our joys,” says E. Tejada III, the associate director for gender and sexuality in the Office of Identity, Student Engagement, and Access. “It’s important to celebrate pride for our queer and trans community on campus.”

Pride Week kicks off on March 12 with a swag giveaway in the University Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a men’s baseball game at the Granger Athletic Complex at 3 p.m.

The week’s signature event is “What Transpires Now: Trans History in the Present,” a lecture by scholar Susan Stryker, who draws parallels between contemporary and past controversies over transgender issues. Her talk will be held at 5 p.m. in Jefferson 320.

She is the author of “Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution”; co-director of the Emmy-winning documentary film “Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria”; co-editor of the multi-volume “Transgender Studies Reader”; and was founding executive co-editor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. A collection of her essays, “When Monsters Speak,” will be published next year by Duke University Press.

Before the lecture, from 3 to 4 p.m., Stryker will speak with Clarkies about her personal journey in a conversation — accompanied by tea and treats — moderated by Tejada and Jennifer Plante, associate dean of the college for curriculum administration and academic integrity. Space is limited and those interested are encouraged to register online.

Tejada says the week is all about uplifting students and sharing queer truths.

“We’re celebrating your experience, your survival, your existence, in a world that feels daunting because of anti-trans legislation and anti-LGBT legislation,” says Tejada. “Our community is more liberal and progressive, but this is happening nationwide, and our students live all across the country and internationally.”

The Human Rights Campaign reports that 571 anti-equality bills were introduced in state legislatures around the country in 2023, of which 77 were signed into law. The HRC officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. Meanwhile, 253 pro-equality bills were introduced in state legislatures around the country in 2023, and 50 were signed into law.

“We’re providing a space to educate and to support dialogue,” Tejada says. “I want to create this space for students, so they can see themselves and what they can be.”

Pride Week is sponsored by a variety of organizations on campus, including more than 20 administrative, faculty, and student groups.