This past Friday, April 11, the Women’s and LGBTQ Center at Southern Methodist University hosted the third Pride Visibility Day. The event included resources and organizations on campus and from the Dallas community, performances by drag artists Gennifer with a G, Arya Jealous, Buck Wylde, and Salem Moon, and a special appearance of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 winner, Sasha Colby.
The first Pride Visibility Day at SMU in 2022 was a fully student led initiative. The Queer Student Senator at the time felt there wasn’t an adequate campus wide event that celebrated the LGBTQ community, and assembled a team of undergrad students to put on the event. Now the event has come under the Women’s and LGBTQ Center and their student groups SAGE and Lavender leaders. This year the SMU Libraries, the Women’s and Gender Studies program, and the Social Change and Intercultural Engagement Office under Student Affairs all contributed to make the event possible.
The evening was a true celebration of queerness, and students were especially excited about Sasha Colby’s performance. During the Q&A portion, many audiences members commented how much it meant to see a transgender women on stage at their school. It was a good reminder that even while the government tries to erase us, queer joy and community continues on.
-Melissa Whitler
