This week marks the beginning of 2013’s Out and About Month, a cross-campus event that highlights cooperation and support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues at the University of Wisconsin.
This emphasis on co-curricular partnerships is what makes this year’s Out and About Month – to take place April 9-26 – different from previous years, according to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center Associate Director Katherine Briggs.
Highly anticipated is the UW Drag Spectacular! show, featuring JuJuBee from RuPaul’s Drag Race, among local drag queens and student performers to take place Thursday, April 11, Briggs said. She said 300 people are expected to attend.
The keynote speech by Alison Bechdel to take place Wednesday, April 17, Briggs said, is another significant event, which is expected to draw 250 attendees.
Briggs said the drag show and the keynote speech represent both sides of the month: community building and educational outreach. She said the drag show will be a social, high-energy and fun event that brings in a lot of students, and the keynote speech, which will be more educational, will bring in a greater variety of people from the Madison community.
The month is important because it furthers the year-long effort to send important messages to LGBT people and their allies, according to LGBT CC Director Gabe Javier.
“I think it’s a really exciting time for a number of reasons for LGBTQ people,” Javier said. “We are hoping to show support.”
The Queer Emerging Leaders Program reception that took place Tuesday, as the opening event of the month, allowed students who participated in a semester-long leadership and community service program to present their work, Javier said. The reception featured the partnerships students in the program have been working on all semester.
The reception will be the culmination of the work of 12 students involved in the program over the past 10 weeks with community and campus agencies, Briggs said. She said the reception will show how those interested can better serve queer students and become involved with assisting work in the agencies participating.
Agencies in cooperation include the LGBT CC, the Madison Fire Department, OutReach, NARAL Pro-Choice, Associated Students of Madison, Adventure Learning Programs and University Health Services.
The month’s final event, the “Queer Prom: A Night of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love,” will be a “big, fancy event” with a Moulin Rouge theme, according to Briggs. She said the event is sponsored by University Housing and should draw a large turnout.
As for the overall expected involvement, Briggs said she hopes the scope of the month will attract a large audience.
“Because there is such a wide variety of things, we hope there is something for everyone,” Briggs said. “Everyone is welcome; you don’t have to be gay to come.”
Briggs emphasized that anyone is welcome to attend the events of Out and About Month. She said she knows that sometimes there can be hesitation with people who are afraid of being identified with a particular identity, but added that this is just a big celebration and anyone should feel welcome.
Like any program, Briggs said, LGBT CC also hopes to reach out to people they have not seen before.
