Day of Silence

Our last event of the year is Breaking the Silence: A Forum on Gendered Hate Crimes, this Wednesday, April 26th @ 7PM in Friedman Lounge in Wohl Center on the South 40.

The Day of Silence is a day in which people of all sexual orientations and gender identities who support GLBTQIA rights take a vow of silence to recognize and protest the silence that LGBTQIA people face each day. Every year we hope that the silence, discrimination, and violence directed at GLBTQIA people will end, however it is not just 'gay' people who suffer from violence or harassment. At this event we hope to raise awareness of the roles that gender and gender norms play in dictating all people's actions, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. A panel of experts will address pertinent topics that relate to this large issue, including some of the following questions:

What do you do if you see or are a survivor of a hate crime? What is a hate crime? How can you be there for a friend? What can we do to reduce the number of future hate crimes? This event will take place on April 26th on the National Day of Silence, at 7PM where we will "Break the Silence" in Friedman Lounge in Wohl Center. FREE PIZZA WILL BE PROVIDED!

We will be tabling in Mallinckrodt on Wednesday from 11-1PM; drop by to pick up a rainbow ribbon!Co-Sponsored by: Pride Alliance, Uncle Joe's Peer Counseling and Resource Center, Safe Zones, Keshet, 1 in 4, Womyn's Resource Center, and the Social Justice Center.

Pride Week

I hope everyone had a great time at Gayla on Saturday--we had tons of people come and it seemed like everyone had an amazing time (the mess you guys left afterward sure hinted at that!). Hopefully it will be a WashU tradition from now on. In case you didn't know, the Gayla was the kickoff for our annual Pride Week. Here's what we have going on:

1) "Discovery" w/ Professor Leslie Brown: Tuesday, April 18th @ 8PM in Women's Building 300. Join Leslie Brown, WashU professor of history and African-American studies, for a discussion about race and GLBT issues. Professor Brown has spoken at Pride events in the past, and is an excellent lecturer and scholar. Her presentation on Tuesday will be a fitting follow-up to the joint ABS-Safe Zones-Pride Alliance meeting we had earlier this month. I hope you can join us!

2) Open Ally Workshop hosted by Safe Zones: Wednesday, April 19th from 7-10PM in Women's Building 300. Be educated on GLBT issues and earn one of those nifty placards upon graduation from the workshop. Even if you identify as G, L, B, or T, the workshop will be a mind-opening experience.

3) Brokeback Mountain Screening with CS40: Thursday, April 20th @ 8PM in Ursa's. Stop studying and relax with friends while watching this amazing, critically-aclaimed film. Free food provided!

4) glbtqiaBBQ: Friday, April 21st from 11-1PM in Bowles Plaza: Eat BBQ. Be proud. Converse with prospective students about life at WashU. Best of all: all the food is FREE! We'll also be giving out free Frisbees, so there is no reason not to come--bring friends! Co-sponsored with the Office of Admissions.

Gayla Advertising

Remember to buy your Gayla tickets this week in Mallinckrodt!

Tranny Roadshow

This Wednesday, April 12th, at 8PM in Ursa's, Pride Alliance, CS40, the Social Justice Center, and the Performing Arts Department are hosting the Tranny Roadshow. This intrepid band of performance artists, each self-identified as transgender, tours the country performing at coffee houses, colleges, and theaters. We'll have FREE FOOD, and it will be tons of fun. Relax, avoid end-of-the-year-work, and come enjoy these great performances. From their own website, www.trannyroadshow.org:

"In addition to humorists, rock bands, poets, and others, a visual art display will accompany the show. As performers, our goals do include challenging people and making them think, but our most important goals are to entertain them, make them laugh, and make them dance. We recognize that our trans identities are singular facets of who we are, and one of the aims of the Tranny Roadshow is to present transpeople as we are - whole, multi-faceted people. In the show, we present a wide spectrum of gender identities, a brilliant array of living art, and the ties that bind these identities to our artwork and to the world"

Be sure to come! Here are a few more points of interest:

1. Earlier today everyone that goes to WashU should have received an e-mail from the director of the GLBTQIA Task force. The survey mentioned in it is very important for assessing the GLBTQIA climate on campus, and they want as many people as possible to fill it out, no matter how you identify. If you have time, please try to complete the survey. It only takes about 10 minutes. There's even a prize drawn randomly from those that fill it out!
2. "Gayla 2006: Cirque du So-Gay!" is April 15th at 9PM in McMillan Cafe and Courtyard. Buy tickets for $8 all week in Mallinckrodt from 11-2:30PM and in Wohl on the evenings of April 12th and 13th. We'll be in front of Olin Library, too, one day of the week. Be sure to stop by and get a ticket! The giant circus tent, huge dance floor, and free food and refreshments ought to be enough motivation to get you dressed up for this sure-to-be-amazing semi-formal. Tell your friends to come! Direct any questions to pridewu@gmail.com
3. Pride Week 2006 is from April 15th-21st. More details in next week's update.
4. The National Day of Silence is April 26th. That evening we will be hosting a "Breaking the Silence" forum on hate crimes. More details to come.

Pride/ABS Event and "Gayla 2006: Cirque du So-Gay!"

Three items on the menu in the next few weeks:

1. On Tuesday, April 4th at 7PM in the Mudd Multipurpose Room on the South 40 we will be hosting a meeting in conjunction with the Association of Black Students (ABS) and Safe Zones about GLBT issues as they pertain to race and ethnicity. The focus of the event will be based on the "Stars" simulation featured in the Safe Zones trainings. The conversation will be thought-provoking and is sorely needed on the WashU campus, so I hope a lot of you can make it.
2. Tranny Road Show, April 15th, 8PM, Ursa's.
3. Gayla 2006: Cirque du So-Gay! will be on Saturday, April 15th, from 9PM until midnight in McMillan Cafe and Courtyard on the hilltop campus. Help kick off Pride Week 2006 with a bang! All of McMillan Cafe will be turned into a huge dance floor with non-stop music, and the courtyard will have a big circus tent with FREE refreshments inside. Tickets will be $8 and are going to go on sale starting Monday, April 10th at tables in Mallinckrodt from 11-1PM. You also might find us outside of Olin Library one day selling tickets, and--trust me--we'll be hard to miss. If you want to help out with set-up that day, or if you have any questions, just respond to this e-mail. I hope to see you there!
4. Pride Week 2006 will be from April 15 to April 21. Specific events are still in the planning stage, and we are taking suggestions, if you have any. The culminating event will be the glbtqiaBBQ on April 21st from 11-1PM in Bowles Plaza .