CofC Shows Its Pride for Charleston Pride Week

Pride is all about having confidence and self-respect. It’s about knowing yourself, being comfortable with yourself and, perhaps most importantly, loving yourself. That’s why the College of Charleston LGBTQ+ community is joining in the celebration of Charleston Pride Week, Sept. 7–14, 2019.

The CofC community in recent years has worked to increase support for LGBTQ+ students through programs, resources and social events with a goal of uplifting those students and promoting inclusivity on campus.

“The future of CofC depends on us embracing identities that have too long been pushed to the margins,” says women’s and gender studies professor Kristi Brian, who serves on the executive committee for the College’s Gender & Sexuality Equity Center. “Celebrating Charleston Pride on campus allows us to connect CofC to the larger vibrant LGBTQ+ community. Most importantly, it tells our LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty that they belong here, and that we want to nurture their valuable perspectives, sensibilities, experiences and identities.”

The entire campus community (students, faculty and staff) are invited to show their pride at the annual Charleston Pride Parade on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 9 a.m. in downtown Charleston. To walk in the parade with the College’s Gender & Sexuality Equity Center, contact Melinda Miley at mileym@cofc.edu. The parade route will go from Ann Street down King Street to Broad Street and then to Colonial Lake. The College will also have a table at the Charleston Pride Festival, which will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Brittlebank Park at 185 Lockwood Dr. in downtown Charleston.

The College’s pride 2019 events are sponsored through a collaboration between the College of Charleston’s Gender & Sexuality Equity Center, Office of Multicultural Student Programs and Services, Sustainability Literacy Institute, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Prism, Special Collections and the Office of Institutional Diversity.

Pride Week events on campus include:

Tuesday, Sept. 10
Prism’s Pride Meeting
7 to 8:30 p.m. | Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, room 103

Wednesday, Sept. 11
Safe Zone 101
3:30 to 5:30 p.m. | Alumni Center, 86 Wentworth St.

Thursday, Sept. 12
Social Justice Mixer
5 p.m. | Kickin Chicken, 337 King St.

Thursday, Sept. 12
ACLU Panel: LGBTQ+ Justice: The Road Ahead
7 p.m. | Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, room 101
The event will be moderated by ABC News 4’s Megan Rivers and will feature Timothy Wilcots, better known as Latrice Royale from Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

Friday, Sept. 13
Honey LaBronx, activist, vegan and drag queen performance
7 to 9 p.m. | Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, room 101

Monday, Sept. 16
Being Me at CofC
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Robert Scott Small, room 235
The event will include information on campus and community resources and a panel discussion of LGBTQ+ students, alumni, faculty and staff.