Two Pride Weeks to Coincide

By Broadside Media Copy Editor Michelle Renaud

Because of a scheduling issue regarding a date for a keynote speaker, George Mason University will be having two Pride Weeks this week.

This year, Pride Week, a series of events designed to increase visibility and raise awareness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community on campus, will coincide with the College Republicans’ Conservative Pride Week.

Pride Week has been in existence since the mid-’90s and is put on by LGBTQ Resources and the Pride Week Planning Committee. The committee consists of people from departments and groups across campus, including LGBTQ Resources, Pride Alliance, Office of Diversity Programs and Services, and University Life.

“The week is full of events,” said Pride Alliance’s co-chair Marissa Mack. “This year we are bringing in a pretty well-known author and activist, Jennifer Baumgardner, for a keynote address on bisexuality.”

College Republicans will also hold a week’s worth of events during their Conservative Pride Week. According to Alyssa Cordova, Vice Chairman of GMU College Republicans, “The purpose of Conservative Pride Week is basically to get general students on campus to understand what conservatism is all about.”

According to Cordova, the week was not planned to oppose LGBTQ’s Pride Week. “At the beginning of the year, we look through our calendar and the University Life calendar to plan all of our events accordingly,” said Cordova. “Conservative Pride Week was, obviously, inspired by Pride Week, though it was not held during Pride Week last year. This year, our funding and speaker availability came around during the same time, so we just planned it for that week.”

The speaker, Star Parker, president and founder of the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education, will be speaking about government entitlements keeping black America in poverty.

“We will be putting up signs about the top myths about conservatives,” said Cordova. “Sometimes people have incorrect ideas about what it means to be conservative.”

Last year, Conservative Pride Week was held during tax week, with events centered on a conservative stance on taxes. But with the coincidence of the two seemingly contradicting pride weeks occurring the same week, questions concerning the innocence of the organizations in planning their pride weeks have risen among students.

“It seems like it was planned and not at all a coincidence,” said Amanda Slockbower, a freshman art history major.

Some students feel the coinciding Pride Weeks could present a different kind of issue. “It might be beneficial to those in either group to support [the other], but [it could be] detrimental because it does not allow people on opposite sides to go to the other side’s events,” said sophomore nursing major Ashley Christ. “I don't think it necessarily has to be controversial,” said sophomore global affairs major Johnnie Lotesta. “Yes, the conservative right tends to be anti-gay/lesbian rights, but it is important to remember that all conservatives—just like all democrats/liberals—do not have the same opinions. I think it is important that both sides get to express their pride openly and creatively.”

As for the organizations, their opinion is one of friendly coexistence. “We don’t really have too much concern about sharing the week of events as long as both groups stay mutually respectful,” said Mack. “We have a full week of events to put on, and our energy is going to go into those events.”