The fourth annual Oxford Pride Week is coming to Oxford April 28-May 5, and will honor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event that served as a catalyst for the gay liberation movement.
This year’s celebrations, organized by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies and community group OutOxford, will feature a variety of events, including some old favorites and some new features throughout the city and University of Mississippi campus.
Celebrating the history of the gay liberation movement will be professors John Howard and Jessica Wilkerson, who specialize in the study of queer history in Mississippi.
Howard, an emeritus professor at King’s College in London, and Wilkerson, UM assistant professor of history and Southern studies, will serve as grand marshals for the 2019 Oxford Pride Parade on May 4.
Oxford Pride Week began in 2016 as LOU Pride Weekend and has continued to grow every year with support from local businesses, the LOU community and both on- and off-campus organizations.
Organizers have partnered with The Lyric, Proud Larry’s, OUTGrads, OutOxford, the UM Pride Network, the Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement, the Oxford Film Festival, the Graduate Oxford and the Oxford and University Police Departments to put together the event.
This year’s festivities will include a few new events.
Finally, on May 5, the “Out in the Park” community softball game and family picnic will take place in Avent Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event will feature a softball team from Memphis’s Bluff City Sports Association coming to Oxford to face a team of Ole Miss staff members.
This article includes information from a news release by the university.
