Pride Week: From Day of Silence to GenderFuck

If you wondered why your classmates were eerily quiet last Friday, April 15, it may have been because of Day of Silence.
 
Day of Silence is a national event that entails muteness as a means to protest and bring attention to thediscrimination and abuse of homosexuals. The event illustrates how such abuse results in a silencing effect of those bullied.
 
It is also the kickoff event for Pride Week.
 
Pride Week is hosted by Queers & Associates (Q&A), a RSO that supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) community on campus through activism and social events.
 
“[Q&A] provides a very informal and friendly environment for queer students to come and talk about their lives at UChicago,” said Ryan Mease, a second-year and new member of Q&A. “Of all the various LGBTQ groups on campus, Q&A has the closest feel to the GSA [Gay-Straight Alliance] groups present in a lot of high schools. It’s the most approachable…and most frequently attended by younger undergraduates.”
 
Pride Week comprises several events between April 15 and 22. Rease calls it an opportunity for “queer students on campus to get involved with Q&A and the Office of LGBTQ Student Life.”
 
“It’s terribly easy to bury one’s head in a book and effectively return to the closet when one gets frustrated or bored with queer life on campus,” said Mease. “Pride Week is our best effort to turn heads and remind students that they have a fun, safe community in which to participate if they’d like to.”
 
Following Day of Silence, Q&A led a trip to a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Music Box Theater on Saturday, April 16.
 
If you happened to miss those events, fear not. Pride Week activities abound this week, ranging from musical showings to baseball games to lectures on LGBT issues.
 
On Monday, April 18, Q&A is hosting a movie night at 8 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Amandla Lounge at the Office of LGBTQ Student Life.
 
There will be a luncheon with Kristen Schilt, assistant professor from the Department of Sociology and author of Just One of the Guys? Transgender Men and the Persistence of Gender Inequality, on Tuesday, April 19. Schilt will be speaking on the subject of gay and transgender rights and the gap that exists between the two.Z&H will be catering for this event.
 
The Office of LGBTQ life will be sponsoring a trip to a baseball game between the Padres and Cubs on Tuesday as well.
 
Wednesday, April 20, will feature Queer Bowling night, also sponsored by the Office of LGBTQ Student Life. Come to Seven Ten Lanes on 55th Street for free bowling from 6 to 9 p.m.
 
On Thursday, April 21, British philosopher Tim Dean will be delivering a talk on the practice of barebacking. The talk is at the Community Lounge at The Office of LGBTQ Student Lifeand begins at 7 p.m.
 
Pride Week culminates on Friday, April 22 with GenderFuck, the highly anticipated annual drag ball. The eventruns from 9 to midnight in the Third Floor Theater of Ida Noyes and is free of charge.
 
Known to be an outrageous conglomeration of decked-out costumes, musical performances (Hint: Lady Gaga may come looking for her moves back.), and general craziness, GenderFuck is well attended by students of every orientation.
 
Indeed, coming in drag is not mandatory, but enthusiasm is.
 
“[GenderFuck] is supposed to be fun, to be loud, to remind people that we’re here, and maybe even to get them to think about gender and sexuality in a more nuanced way for a little while,” said Connor Gilroy, a second-year at the College and board member of Q&A. “It also creates for a couple hours a space that ideally is completely nonjudgmental. No one is obliged to come in drag, yet people are free to use whatever sort of gender expression/performance they like. All we ask is that people bring open minds.”
 
And that, really, is the aim of Pride Week. More than just advocating the LGBT cause, it advocates open minds and open hearts. It is about creating a week free from judgment, bias, and hate—a week of community.