Monday, Aug. 27, 2018
IDS Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
FOOTBALL
Ramsey wins IU starting QB spot By Sean Mintert smintert@iu.edu | @Sean_mintert20
With a little over a week until IU football takes the field against Florida International University in its season-opener, the Hoosiers have named their starting quarterback. IU coach Tom Allen announced that redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey will be under center when IU plays FIU on Sept. 1. Ramsey, who saw some playing time last season, completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,252 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Ramsey played in nine of IU’s 12 games last year and boasts the best single-season completion percentage in program history. “There’s three things that we want from this position,” Allen said. “First of all, we want a quarterback that protects the football, number two was the ability to move the team down the field, and number three was that we wanted a young man that the team believes in.” Allen also mentioned that he expects graduate transfer Brandon Dawkins and freshman Michael Penix Jr. to see time at the quarterback position this season. “We’ve got two other quarterbacks that we’re really excited about,” Allen said. “I think they both have a lot of talent, and I think both of those guys bring unique skills to the table.” Allen said that there was a possibility of utilizing Dawkins’ running ability in a few packages, and cited Dawkins’ ability to make defenses uncomfortable, with both his legs and his arm, as one of his best qualities. Ramsey and the Hoosiers will take on FIU at 7 p.m. Sept. 1 in Miami. IU’s home opener will be the following week against Virginia.
Rainbow after rain ANDREW WILLIAMS | IDS
Headliner Sasha Velour performs her second song of the night during her Bloomington Pridefest performance Saturday evening on the Upland Brewing Stage. Velour won the ninth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” which aired in 2017.
Sasha Velour headlines Pridefest drag show By Lauren Fazekas lfazekas@iu.edu
A lot of love went around Saturday evening at Bloomington Pridefest's 2018 final drag show. The Back Door presented Sasha Velour, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9, to a massive crowd of festival goers, glitter and gay vibes. The show featured several of Bloomington’s local drag queens and was free. “We are here to remember our legacy. We are here to remember why Pride even exists at all,” said Alex Hollett, who opened up the drag show with slam poetry. "This poem is dedicated to all of the queer and trans sex workers and street kids, many of them of color. Dedicated to all the queer youth in this crowd, you are not a burden, you are perfect. And we love you.” Prior to the show, which began at 9 p.m. in the parking-lot-turnedconcert-venue of CVS on Kirkwood Avenue, festival goers seemed beyond excited to see Velour. Velour, according to her website, is a gender-fluid drag queen who lives in New York, produces and stars in the drag show “Nightgowns” and is the creative energy behind “Velour: The Drag Magazine.” “It’s just fun, I’ve been watching since season seven, I’m a little new but I’m obsessed,” IU junior Payton Williams said. “I think it's the originality of it and having a bald queen was really new for the show, she has a really unique look with the uni-
brow and all that.” Pat Yo Weave, the show’s hostess and program director for The Back Door, laid down some ground rules before the performers took the stage, first making sure everyone in the tightly packed crowd knew they could not touch the queens, second that it was okay to accidentally misgender someone as long as there was an apology, and third, letting everyone repeatedly know she loved them. Once Hollett finished her poem, the lights went dark and a single spotlight focused to a point in the center of the stage.
“I think the sense of community is my favorite, all the gays come out and it’s just great, you can’t be sad at Pride.” Taylor Boswell, IU graduate
The beginning piano riffs of Barbara Streisand’s “Happy Days Are Here Again” played as Velour waltzed out into the spotlight wearing a white sequined dress and yellow gloves. “So long sad times, go along bad times, we are rid of you at last,” Velour lip-synced as she took her yellow gloves off to reveal removable pieces of glittery blue fabric that were shaped like tear drops, pluck-
Morgan Ellison suspended indefinitely Bloomington Pridefest brings sunshine PHOTOS BY MATT BEGALA | IDS
Top JB Awesome skates in front of a crowd during a drag performance Saturday at the 2018 Bloomington Pridefest on East Kirkwood Avenue. Bottom Benjamin Ale-Ebrahim, a volunteer with Spencer Pride, holds up pride flags Saturday at the 2018 Bloomington Pridefest on East Kirkwood Avenue.
By Sean Mintert
By Yue Sun
smintert@iu.edu | @Sean_mintert20
sun12@iu.edu | @sunyue_luna
Sophomore running back Morgan Ellison has been suspended indefinitely, according to an IU athletics release. No reason for the suspension was given, and IU athletics was not immediately available for comment. Ellison, who was looking to top the depth chart at running back, is coming off a freshman season in which he led the team in rushing with 704 yards on 143 attempts. Additionally, he was a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week recipient and was named IU’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year. With a little over a week until IU opens its season against Florida International University in Miami, the competition to see who will line up next to sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey in the Hoosier backfield is wide open. Among those looking to replace Ellison on the depth chart will be redshirt sophomore Cole Gest, senior Mike Majette and redshirt senior Ricky Brookins. Majette has battled injuries the previous two seasons, while Brookins has struggled to find touches in a crowded backfield. True freshmen Ronnie Walker Jr. and Kristian Pechac could also see some time, as no one has taken control of the running back position so far. In addition to Ellison, IU announced that redshirt freshman linebacker Mo Burnam is suspended for the season-opener on Sept. 1. This story will continue to be updated.
After a sprinkle of rain fell over Bloomington, rainbow flags and signs lined the wet streets at the fifth annual Bloomington Pridefest Saturday afternoon, as people gathered to celebrate and raise awareness for the LGBT community. The heat and humidity seemed not to deter anyone from attending the event, as people of all ages — many dressed up with rainbow colored items — flocked to the festival on Kirkwood Avenue to participate in the events offered by Bloomington PRIDE. The two live performance stages at the festival brought free entertainment, such as concerts and drag shows. The entertainment could be seen at the Upland Stage in the CVS parking lot and the Boston Scientific Stage on Kirkwood Avenue and Lincoln Street. The festival grounds extended from Grant Street all the way to Walnut Street, lined with more than 90 nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, food vendors, and businesses selling T-shirts and handicrafts. Amid the rush of students and Bloomington residents, Susan Bangalder, a volunteer at Pridefest, stood with a sign reading “Free Hugs” in her hands. Bangalder said that as straight people, she and a few other people were trying to send the message that there’s love and appreciation for people of all orientations and ways of being. “It means you can live out loud,” Bangalder said. “It means
SEE VELOUR, PAGE 5
More Pride stories, page 9 Read a Q&A with a local Bloomington drag queen on page 9. On idsnews.com view a Pridefest timelapse. there’re support for people to be who they are, be their genuine selves without fear of reprisal or fear of harm or teasing. It means there’s acceptance.” Autumn Siney, a junior studying studio art, shared a hug with Bangalder. She said she thinks that free hugs are a very kind gesture. “It just makes me happy to know that people are there to give affection,” Siney said. Black Lives Matter Bloomington had a booth for the first year at Pridefest. Black Lives Matter court council member Jada Bee said they wanted to bring in donations for local organizations such as Middle Way House and Shalom Center and encourage people to engage more on the discussions surrounding Black Lives Matter. “Black people are not a monolith,” Bee said. “We are varying types and shapes and sizes, and that includes being queer and being out and positive.” She said the organization wanted to support their queer and trans brothers and sisters, in particular people of color and the black folks who need a voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, along with their queer identity. ANDREW WILLIAMS | IDS Katina Tsarnas, a senior Top JJ Suede performs during Bloomington Pridefest Saturday evening on the studying graphic design, said she Upland Brewing Stage. The event, presented by The Back Door, was hosted by drag queen Patricia Yolanda Weave (Pat Yo Weave). thinks that the Pridefest helps ZHENG GUAN | IDS
SEE PRIDE, PAGE 5
Bottom Brenda Rose, an auctioneer at Metzger Property Service, holds up a wooden hammer at the 2018 Bloomington Pridefest on East Kirkwood Avenue.