Hosted by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies, Oxford’s eighth annual Pride Week kicked off on Sunday, April 28 and will extend to Saturday May, 4. This year’s celebration will feature a series of events, panel discussions and more under the theme of “Toward a Queer Renaissance.”
Celebrations began on April 28 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church with an open dialogue discussion titled “Faith, Spirituality and LGBTQIA+ Connection.”
On April 30, Lambda will host a Drag Panel and Q&A in the LGBTQ+ Lounge, located on the fourth floor of Lamar Hall.
The panel will provide students and members of the Oxford community the opportunity to meet and talk to several Oxford drag queens. Blake Summers, Vivica Vanity, Lady Pluto, Atheria and Simone Striker will serve as panelists.
“Drag is purposefully transgressive, pushing the envelope in order to satirize what is acceptable to normative society. Drag kings and queens seek to expose the ridiculousness of gender roles and sexual repression through their performances,” the Oxford Pride website said.
Author of “Gay Faulkner” Phillip “Pip” Gordon will host a SouthTalk event focused on “Faulkner’s Enduring Queerness” on Wednesday, May 1.
After writing “Gay Faulkner” four years ago, Gordon expressed his excitement to discuss the work in Oxford, a town with such strong ties to Faulkner.
“It’s Ole Miss and talking about Faulkner at Ole Miss is great. People in the audience actually know who he is and have read a lot of his work. You have these really engaging conversations with people,” Gordon said.
Gordon talked about simultaneously engaging with the on- and off-campus communities.
“We are an academic institution. There are academic elements to queer studies. … We want to think about LGBTQ+ people and stories from the perspective of professors trying to engage with students in an educational setting, (and show) simultaneously (that) parts of pride are a drag show and a big parade,” Gordon said “This helps bridge that gap between the on-campus and off-campus (community).”
Events will continue with Lavender Graduation on May 2 from 5-6 p.m. This event will serve as a celebration of LGBTQ students’ accomplishments. The ceremony will provide graduating students with lavender cords.
The annual Oxford Pride Parade will take place at 2 p.m. on May 4. Members of the LGBTQ community and allies will gather in Oxford to celebrate and promote solidarity. The parade will also commemorate Jimmie “Jay” Lee as an honorary grand marshal.
Pride on the Plaza – a free event open to the public – will take place following the Pride Parade on Saturday from 3–5 p.m. on the Union Plaza.
Oxford Pride Week will also host a Pride Drag Show Fundraiser on Saturday from 8-12 p.m. The theme is “May the Pride be with You” and will serve as a celebration open to the community.
“We have come a long way, as a nation and as a university community, in demonstrating our respect for the dignity of each queer person in our midst,” the Oxford Pride website said. “Let’s be proud of where we are and steadfast in where we need to go.”
Operations Coordinator and Coordinator of Community Engaged Learning and Research Kevin Cozart welcomes all members of the community to be a part of Oxford Pride Week.
“The message to them (LGBTQ students) is that you can find a home here. … There is a place for them in the Ole Miss family, and there are people who are actively working to make them feel part of the family,” Cozart said.
