This week, the UNC LGBTQ Center, in partnership with various local and student organizations, will be hosting Pride Week, five days consisting of celebrations for students of all gender identities, gender expressions and sexual orientations.
Jamillae Stockett, assistant director of the LGBTQ Center, said the center wanted to organize a week full of energy, joy, celebration and visibility.
“This year is about reconnection: every event that we have during this Pride Week this year is about bringing back connections in some kind of way to students,” Stockett said.
Pride Week began with Mindfulness Monday at the Coker Arboretum, which consisted of a nature walk in the morning and a reflective painting exercise in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, there will be a plant giveaway at the Davis Library Edible Garden, where attendees will be able to drink tea with a partner.
OUTspoken, an event centered around BIPOC creativity and beauty, will feature a fashion show on Tuesday evening by Xpressions, a student-run club and magazine that aims to create space for Black students to express their love for fashion. The event will also include a spoken word performance by Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre, as well as student musical performances.
Aliyah Carrion, outreach coordinator of Xpressions, said part of Tuesday's OUTspoken event is a three-series show about coming out and acceptance of queer identity — specifically BIPOC queer identity.
“I think it's always important to create spaces — and not even create spaces, but cultivate these community events where we can all get together to celebrate the things that make us who we are, and reclaim them as a part of our identity,” she said.
UNC's Queer Graduate and Professional Students organization is hosting an intergenerational dinner on Wednesday in conjunction with the Orange County Department on Aging's LGBTQ Senior Resource Team.
