Oct. 1 through Oct. 6 is Pride Week on campus here at the University of Utah. Our LGBT resource center is hosting many events over these five days, including a significant amount of arts events. The flier which advertises the event displays the catchprase “embody pride” and a caption which reads “art, activism, accountability.” The center’s line-up of events seems to reflect these values.
On Tuesday, Oct. 2 the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is hosting an ACME session at the Utah Pride Center from 5-8 p.m. ACME stands for “Art. Community. Museum. Education.” and is a program which hosts public sessions where students can “imagine new models of education through hands-on activities and dialect” according to ACME’s website. The hands-on activities include art-centered ones as well. For this session, ACME’s theme coincides with pride week: Em[body] Pride: Art, Activism, and Accountability. If you want to learn more about what an ACME session is like, check out their past sessions here. Following this session, there will be an Art Public Service Event in collaboration with Nopalera Artist Collective.
On Thursday, Oct. 4th from 10am-12 p.m. there will be STI testing as well as an information fair in the Union Panorama East. This event is put together by a collaboration with Clinic 1A and the Center for Student Wellness. The testing will only last while supplies do, so if you are interested make sure to get there on time.
There is also a film screening on Thursday. The film is entitled “I Am” and it follows the journey of a lesbian Indian film director who never came out to her mother. She talks with other Indian LGBTQ+ members about their experiences throughout the film. (India recently abolished their law that banned gay intercourse). The screening will take place from 5-7 p.m. in the CITHB, room 109. There will be food and a discussion as well.
This summer, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds hosted Love Loud, a festival which prompted LGBTQ+ support and understanding between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the queer community. Reynolds was a missionary for the church himself, and his rhetoric on how the Mormon community treats LBGTQ+ members was heard across the valley. On Thursday, Oct. 4 from 2-5:30 p.m., there will be a free screening of a documentary of Reynolds’ experiences, entitled “Believer.” It will be shown at the Union Theater and there will be a dialogue session held afterward as well. This event is in collaboration with the Bennion Center. You can watch the documentary trailer here.
Another film screening to end the week will take place on Friday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. This documentary is entitled “Quiet Heros” and follows the journey of the AIDS epidemic here in Utah. It focuses on the difficulties of trying to treat patients and navigating the religious atmosphere in the state through the story of one doctor who was willing to treat those with AIDS — Dr. Kristen Ries. This screening will take place in the Marriott Library’s Gould Auditorium. You can learn more about the documentary here.
For more information on the LGBTQ+ Resource Center and all the events happening during pride week, check out their website. You can also learn more about the Utah Pride Center, which is separate from campus, here.