A shared commmunity Dukes Pride Week celebrates LGBTQ+ students and allies on campus

By MATEO CSERNECKY Contributing writer

At a table full of LGBTQ+ students, everyone went around sharing their stories, stories about coming out to their friends and family, stories about LGBTQ+ role models they look up to and stories of being cut off by family members and friends. No matter what the stories were about, every student shared what being part of the LGBTQ+ community was like for them.

On April 6 in the Highlands Room of the Festival Conference and Student Center, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) held a pride-themed barbecue and gave out free food to students. This was one of several different events being held as part of Dukes Pride Week, a weeklong celebration of LGBTQ+ students, teachers and staff at JMU.

One of the most notable events was held April 4, where SOGIE invited Nicole Maines, a transgender actress and activist who portrayed the first transgender superhero on TV, to speak. Maines talked about her life as a transgender person and activist as well as the future of transgender people around the world.

Maines specifically discussed being a plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case, Doe v. Regional School Unit 26, in which she argued her school district couldn’t deny her access to a female bathroom for being transgender.

“It was really exciting to see her speak,” Riley Alvarez, a sophomore and Madison Equality Board member, said. “I really admire her and her work, and it means so much to me and other students to have her speaking here. She was so kind when I was speaking to her after, and her entire speech was so powerful.”

Alvarez praised SOGIE for sponsoring the event and getting Maines to speak. They further

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noted how exciting it was to get to see someone who does so much work for the transgender community speak at JMU. Maines’ event, however, wasn’t the only major pride event held during the week that drew praise from JMU students.

SOGIE held a community chat in the Lavender Lounge in the Student Success Center on April 5. Students discussed their experiences and thoughts there on what being a queer student was like.

“It was really cool to get to experience and hear everyone else’s stories and thoughts,” Jacob Houston, sophomore said. “It was probably my favorite event this week.”

Houston expressed appreciation for how the event let LGBTQ+ students at JMU who might feel shy come together and “get out of their shell and meet people.’’ Houston also mentioned how well the chat went and how giving people the space to tell their own stories and talk about their experiences was a “necessary part of any celebration of Pride.”

“The whole week as a whole was pretty well done, and I felt as if the whole thing definitely brought a good amount of people out to the events,” Houston said.

Houston and Alvarez both discussed the highlights of the week as a whole, admiring the free food and games at April 6’s event, as well as the community-building efforts sparked by the pride week. Both noted how important it was to have JMU and SOGIE recognize the LGBTQ+ community and make them feel as if they’re welcome on campus, safe and happy.

“Having these community events like this means a lot to me knowing that I can go into a room without people thinking I’m weird, even if it’s a subconscious thing that happens so often in so many other places,” Houston said. “It feels really nice to have this here.”

While both Houston and Alvarez said they felt appreciative of the work and events put on during Dukes Pride Week, both agreed there’s more the university could do to get more LGBTQ+students involved with the festivities and help make more people feel as if they belong, such as advertising SOGIE and Madison Equality to students more and offering LGBTQ+ history classes.

“There are a lot of resources that are out there for students but may not be readily available and require digging,” senior Ken Kensky said.

Kensky highlighted several issues with the university’s attempts at including queer students, specifically accessibility concerns, such as gender-neutral bathrooms. Kensky noted the lack of these on campus, saying how some buildings didn’t have any gender-neutral bathrooms and how some buildings used to have some, but have gotten rid of them. Kensky said she appreciated what JMU was doing for queer students but noted how much work is left.

The Dukes Pride Week events celebrated those who identify as LGBTQ+ by bringing together students as a community and, as Houston said, encouraging them to feel safe and included on campus. While Houston, Alvarez and Kensky all praised SOGIE and the university for their efforts during Dukes Pride Week, all three agreed there’s still a long way to go to fully improve things for LGBTQ+ students on campus.

“These are great steps, but there is still progress we can work towards to make queer students feel truly welcome on campus,” Kensky said.”

CONTACT Mateo Csernecky at csernems@dukes.jmu. edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.