Participants march during Pittsburgh PrideFest 2018.
Pittsburghers will have to wait until June for the official Pittsburgh PrideFest and the colorful festivities it brings annually to Downtown. But this year, the spirit of Pride will come to Oakland sooner than that, with a Pitt-specific Pride celebration in April.
Student Government Board and several other student organizations are spearheading the effort — the first of its kind — that will span most of April and end on the Saturday before finals week.
Rainbow Alliance has hosted a Pride week in April for decades, and familiar annual events like the open mic night “Rainbow Voices” and the consistently popular drag show still show up on this year’s calendar. But Tabitha Barnes, who chairs SGB’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, said organizers hope the inclusion of larger organizations like Pitt Program Council and Residence Life on the planning committee will mean more students get to experience Pride this year.
“The LGBTQIA+ community on campus is enormous,” Barnes said. “We wanted to make sure that Pride was something everyone could take part in … kind of using the resources that we have to make that happen.”
In addition to Rainbow Alliance, Residence Life and PPC, SGB worked with Pitt Tonight, oSTEM and Pitt’s Gender and Sexuality LLC to bring Pride to Pitt’s campus. Barnes said planning for Pride began less than a month ago and the lineup has come together quickly, including PPC’s “An Evening with Tyler Oakley,” an event on April 8 with the openly gay YouTuber and LGBTQ+ advocate.
The full calendar includes a PPC film screening of “Boy Erased,” a drama about a gay preacher’s son who undergoes conversion therapy, and the season finale of “Pitt Tonight.” There will also be a student fashion show that, according to its open application, will showcase “our models’ finest fashions as well as highlighting positive aspects of Gender Identity and Gender Expression.”
The complete list of events, via Barnes, includes:
Rainbow Voices poetry slam – 9 p.m., April 1, WPU 630 (Rainbow Alliance)
History of Pride – 9 p.m., April 3, WPU 630 (Rainbow Alliance)
Discussion of the history of Pride and the global LGBTQIA+ community
Body Positivity Pool Party – 9-11 p.m., April 4, Trees Pool (Rainbow Alliance)
“Boy Erased” screening – 9 p.m., April 4, WPU Assembly Room (PPC)
Drag Show – 9 p.m.-midnight, April 5, WPU Assembly Room (Rainbow Alliance)
Deconstruct the Rainbow – 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m. April 8, Towers Lobby
Tabling event where participants will be able to “showcase their intersecting identities through canvas art”
An Evening with Tyler Oakley – 8:30-10 p.m., April 8, WPU Assembly Room (PPC)
Round Table Discussions – noon, April 9, Kurtzman Room
Discussion and activity-based event with the goal of “exploring experience and identity”
Pride Networking Event – 5-7 p.m., April 10, WPU Assembly Room
Networking opportunity where students can connect with LGBTQIA+ professionals from companies in Pittsburgh
Pride Student Fashion Show – 9-11 p.m., April 11, WPU Assembly Room
“Pitt Tonight” season finale episode – 8 p.m., April 20, Randall Theatre
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