April showers bring a rainbow
LGBT Center hosting numerous events throughout the month to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied community
by Nicole Smith
Issue date: 4/17/08
Section: Campus News
This month has been dubbed GaYpril by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center. There will be a number of events dedicated to celebrating the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied community. This is the first time the LGBT Center has hosted this month-long series of events. All events are free and open to the public.
"We just wanted to tie a lot of events together and really celebrate the LGBT community for a month," said Jessica Flatequal, assistant director of the LGBT Center. "Some of the events are serious, some fun and some political."
GaYpril kicked off with the Annual Gender Bender drag show April 9 and will continue this month with more events.
Today is justFair Lobby Day, sponsored by OutFront Minnesota - a statewide LGBT equality organization - at the state capital. Events include educational sessions, meetings with legislators, and a Rally for Fairness.
Flatequal said 20 people are going from MSU.
"We get to talk to legislators about where they stand about LGBT issues, about our lives and why we hope they vote in our favor regarding certain issues," she said.
The group will also get a chance to speak with them about some of the legislation they are working on, as well as attend the Rally for Fairness at noon on the state capital grounds.
As part of GaYpril, Impact is sponsoring "Get Real," the 1998 coming-of-age film of two boys in a British school who fall in love. The film will be shown April 23 to 26 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Ostrander Auditorium in the Centennial Student Union .
Sexuality and Gender Equality, a coalition of students working to combat inequality, homophobia, heterosexism and hate on campus and in the community, is also involved in GaYpril. SAGE is sponsoring a screening of "Toilet Training," a cutting-edge documentary discussing the impact sex-segregated bathrooms have on persons of varying genders, ages, abilities, races and economic situations.
"What I love about Toilet Training is the way it incorporates perspectives of real people's lives in dealing with our current sex-segregated restrooms," said Brad Freihoefer, vice president of SAGE. "By creating gender-neutral areas, a basic human need becomes available for many more individuals without fear of retaliation," he said.
The event will be 12:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesday in Ostrander, with a panel discussion following the film.
Students will present "Somewhere Over The Rainbow: An LGBT History" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Thursday in the Flexible Programming Space on the lower level of the CSU. This event will display a history of the LGBT rights movement.
In addition, keynote speaker Chrissy Gephardt will present at 7 p.m. April 28 in the CSU Ballroom and the LGBT Center will observe the national Day of Silence April 30.
Nicole Smith is a Reporter staff writer
"We just wanted to tie a lot of events together and really celebrate the LGBT community for a month," said Jessica Flatequal, assistant director of the LGBT Center. "Some of the events are serious, some fun and some political."
GaYpril kicked off with the Annual Gender Bender drag show April 9 and will continue this month with more events.
Today is justFair Lobby Day, sponsored by OutFront Minnesota - a statewide LGBT equality organization - at the state capital. Events include educational sessions, meetings with legislators, and a Rally for Fairness.
Flatequal said 20 people are going from MSU.
"We get to talk to legislators about where they stand about LGBT issues, about our lives and why we hope they vote in our favor regarding certain issues," she said.
The group will also get a chance to speak with them about some of the legislation they are working on, as well as attend the Rally for Fairness at noon on the state capital grounds.
As part of GaYpril, Impact is sponsoring "Get Real," the 1998 coming-of-age film of two boys in a British school who fall in love. The film will be shown April 23 to 26 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Ostrander Auditorium in the Centennial Student Union .
Sexuality and Gender Equality, a coalition of students working to combat inequality, homophobia, heterosexism and hate on campus and in the community, is also involved in GaYpril. SAGE is sponsoring a screening of "Toilet Training," a cutting-edge documentary discussing the impact sex-segregated bathrooms have on persons of varying genders, ages, abilities, races and economic situations.
"What I love about Toilet Training is the way it incorporates perspectives of real people's lives in dealing with our current sex-segregated restrooms," said Brad Freihoefer, vice president of SAGE. "By creating gender-neutral areas, a basic human need becomes available for many more individuals without fear of retaliation," he said.
The event will be 12:30 to 2 p.m. Tuesday in Ostrander, with a panel discussion following the film.
Students will present "Somewhere Over The Rainbow: An LGBT History" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Thursday in the Flexible Programming Space on the lower level of the CSU. This event will display a history of the LGBT rights movement.
In addition, keynote speaker Chrissy Gephardt will present at 7 p.m. April 28 in the CSU Ballroom and the LGBT Center will observe the national Day of Silence April 30.
Nicole Smith is a Reporter staff writer
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