U students took the “gay train” to The Gateway Wednesday night as a part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Week on campus.
Students, faculty and staff rode TRAX to the downtown shopping center for a meet-and-greet dinner with author, activist and former Black Panther Ericka Huggins.
Huggins traveled from San Francisco to attend the U’s Pride Week activities and will deliver a keynote address today at noon in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts auditorium. The weeklong series of events, sponsored by the LGBT resource center, is aimed at raising awareness about gay rights on campus.
Nick Critchlow, a senior gender studies student and LGBT Resource Center intern, said LGBT issues are too often underrepresented in the media, and that Pride Week is a crucial stepping stone to bridge the gap between gay and straight students. “It’s all about promoting our center and raising awareness for queer students on campus and in the community,” Critchlow said.
The resource center has been hosting Pride Week events since its inception in 2002. Center director Cathy Martinez said the events usually take place in mid-October to coincide with National Coming Out Day on Oct. 15. The center hosts several events throughout the year and offers counseling, education and advocacy to LGBT students and faculty members year-round. The center also engages in campus outreach with its Safe Zone Training, a program that educates faculty about LGBT issues and identities, and the Speaker’s Bureau, which sends resource center staff members into classrooms to share coming out stories and increase LGBT awareness.
“Pride Week unites the students and provides the overall campus community with a view into the lives of LGBT individuals,” Martinez said. “It’s also, in some ways, celebration. It’s for everybody8212;not just for LGBT and allied individuals. We want to share our community. We’re not scary “going-to-get-you’ kind of people.”
Other Pride Week events included a drag dash fashion show, movie screening and panel discussions, dog show, free HIV testing, hot dog eating contest and safe-sex education seminar.
The center will end the week with a silent auction and “Gay-la,” which will feature Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker as a keynote speaker. Last year, the Gay-la and silent auction raised $3,000 for the resource center. All 260 seats for this year’s event sold out weeks ago, Martinez said.
The resource center will continue to host events throughout the year. For more information, visit the LGBT center in the Union, Room 409.