Pride Week 2021 came to a powerful conclusion on Friday, April 16, with the third annual Pride After Dark celebration, hosted by the Diversity & Inclusion Committee (DNI) of the Student Government Association. The event brightened up the night with colorful displays and inspiring performances over Zoom where students gathered virtually. While the event was lively and entertaining, it also highlighted the importance of diversity and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.
The night included nine speakers/performers. Eli Trakhtenberg, former DNI Sexuality Advocate kicked off the event by listing a few action items to help the trans and LGBTQ+ community. Then, performances by Die Anna and aja.kom lit up the Zoom stage, followed by a talk about the importance of advocacy by Valarie Walker. Next followed performances by TheIllustriousPeal, Emi Grate, and Stevens band, Porchlight. The night concluded with an electrifying performance by Neon Calypso and a few concluding remarks from DNI.
The event also included information regarding anti-trans legislation. According to the MCs of the night, Ang Contreras and Sylvia Boamah, some states like Arizona and Tennessee have introduced legislation that discriminates against the trans community on the basis of religion. To combat these discriminatory laws, the speakers of the event urged audiences to take action by sending emails and calling state representatives.
Connor Mills, the Sexuality Advocate for DNI, was heavily involved in the planning process of this event. According to Mills, although Pride After Dark was virtual this year, the planning process was similar to that of the in-person event. The process of communicating and securing performers involved “DMs, emails, and phone calls” because “reaching out to [performers] virtually is the easiest way.” Mills also described the logistical planning process to be easier because stages, lighting, and decorations were not needed. Instead, Mills worked on setting up Zoom graphics and backgrounds for the virtual events.
Mills was inspired to plan this event to both continue the annual tradition of Pride After Dark and to “celebrate queer students on campus in a fun, diverse, and welcoming environment.” There was a focus on having a wide breadth and variety of performances at Pride After Dark while also fostering a relaxing environment to subdue the fatigue students have faced after a few semesters of online classes. Mills described that he wanted the event to promote “a safe space to celebrate queerness, even just for 2 hours on a Friday night.” It was especially important to him to have this event because of the lack of queer spaces on campus and because of the “physical separation from one another due to COVID-19.”
Mills hopes that there is a strong future for Pride After Dark. “I hope to get back to in-person [Pride After Dark] in the future because despite how amazing a virtual event can be, it does not compare to an in-person one,” Mills said. With promises of a fully in-person semester for Fall 2021 for cultural and social events, students are hoping to experience the in-person Pride After Dark event next spring.
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