{"id":33335,"date":"2016-05-03T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=33335"},"modified":"2016-05-03T12:01:08","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T17:01:08","slug":"lou-pride-weekend-in-oxford-mississippi-may-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/lou-pride-weekend-in-oxford-mississippi-may-5\/","title":{"rendered":"LOU Pride Weekend in Oxford, Mississippi May 5-8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"newlogocolored<\/a>On the first weekend of May, the efforts of Matt Kessler<\/strong>, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies<\/strong>, the UM Pride Network<\/strong>, and many more will culminate in the LOU (Lafayette Oxford University) Pride Weekend<\/strong> and, ultimately, Oxford\u2019s inaugural LOU Pride Parade<\/strong>. I spoke with Kessler, the man behind organizing what will be a weekend full of events focused on fostering public spaces for Oxford\u2019s LGBTQ community, and Spencer Pleasants<\/strong>, the president of the UM Pride Network, to get a sense of how this weekend came to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last October, Proud Larrys\u2019<\/strong> hosted the first Code Pink<\/strong> event, also sponsored by UM Pride Network and the Sarah Isom Center. Pleasants explained that the \u201csunflower seed of an idea\u201d to
\n<\/a>have a full-blown Pride event in Oxford first sprouted in the midst of Code Pink\u2019s success. With safety as the first priority, Kessler sought permission from the University Police Department<\/strong> and the Oxford Police Department<\/strong> before moving forward. \u201cEveryone we spoke to has been very supportive,\u201d Kessler wrote in an email.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the last week of March, Governor Phil Bryant<\/strong> singed House Bill 1523 into law, a bill which critics characterize as the most sweeping anti-LGBT legislation in the United States. Although the planning process for the parade began in January, Kessler explained that the outrage surrounding the bill mobilized the LGBT community as well as local community and business owners.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, okay this is why this is important; all the more reason to have the pride. But this was absolutely already in the works because there was already such a need,\u201d Pleasants explained. \u201c[Matt] has been orchestrating this so well. Once we had cooperation from UPD, it was like, okay, we can move forward on this. And it\u2019s kind of like an instance of \u2018if you build it, they will come,\u2019 because there\u2019s just been a thirst for it, and now it\u2019s finally being satisfied.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"code-pink-poster-v2-194x300\"<\/a>On Thursday, May 5, Proud Larrys\u2019 will host the second Code Pink dance party. Kessler mentioned that next year there will be as many as four more Code Pink nights. Kessler explained that the idea behind Code Pink is \u201ca dance night and platform for the LGBTQ community. We\u2019d like it to be a relatively loose night. Anyone in Oxford\u2019s LGBTQ community who\u2019d like to perform, we\u2019d like to create a space for you.\u201d Thursday\u2019s event will feature sets by DJs Gogo <\/strong>& Special K<\/strong>, DJ Sgrotesque<\/strong>, DJ Shep<\/strong>, and DJ Such & Such<\/strong>. There will also be a dance performance called \u201cSquare Secrets,\u201d featuring Hinge Dance Company<\/strong>, Hip Hop Rebs<\/strong>, and Ole Miss Student Dance<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday, May 6, graduating LGBTQ students will be honored at Ole Miss<\/strong>\u2019 inaugural Lavender Graduation<\/strong> in the Student Union Ballroom at noon. That night, GoDiva\u2019s Eleganza Extravaganza Drag Show<\/strong> will return to Oxford and perform at Proud Larrys\u2019, featuring drag queens from Tupelo and North Mississippi. The much-anticipated parade will start at 2:30 pm on Saturday, and there will be a post-parade gathering at 4 pm at Lamar Lounge<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mn9za_mO\"<\/a>In 2014, Pleasants and other students representing the UM Pride Network and Ole Miss traveled to Memphis and walked in the Mid-South Pride Parade<\/strong>. \u201cEvery few feet we were out there just chanting \u2018Hotty Toddy\u2019 and making sure people knew it was us,\u201d Pleasants elaborated. The students returned home from the parade with the Most Spirited award.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it feels so much more personal because it\u2019s home. It\u2019s great that there are people I know and love and who support me, and that we\u2019ll get to have this great experience together. This time, pressure is off to stand out. It\u2019s all about lifting one another up,\u201d Pleasants said regarding the LOU Pride Parade, which will begin at the Ford Center<\/strong> parking lot, then follow University Avenue up South Lamar and proceed through the Square.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone interested in being a part of the parade should arrive at the Ford Center parking lot at 2 pm Saturday. \u201cJust show up, show out, and be prideful,\u201d said Pleasants.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for those who\u2019d rather cheer than march, we\u2019d love you to line up along the path and cheer us on. That will be just as important for the parade\u2019s success!\u201d Kessler added. \u201cThere will be floats, people marching, people holding banners. All are welcome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"parade-route-768x411\"<\/a>
LOU Pride Parade Route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kessler and Pleasants are both most excited to spend time with the LGBTQ community. \u201cThere are no gay bars in Oxford, so we don\u2019t get to hang out enough,\u201d Kessler acknowledged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, on Sunday, Oxford Film Festival<\/strong> and Crossroads Film Society<\/strong> will provide a free screening of \u201cLGBTQ Shorts: Struggles and Celebrations of Being Out in the Deep South\u201d at The Shelter on Van Buren<\/strong> at 4 pm. Filmmakers will be in attendance for a discussion after the films.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that people celebrate and enjoy the screenings with us on Mother\u2019s Day, especially with films such as Instababy<\/em> which discuss gay couples adopting in Mississippi and The Ballad of Little Pam<\/em> which touches on the relationship between mother and daughter,\u201d Oxford Film Festival Executive Director Melanie Addington<\/strong> said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oxford has seen a slight but notable increase in visible spaces for the LGBTQ community over the past couple of years, and the LOU Pride Weekend aims to amplify this momentum.\u00a0\"The<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the first weekend of May, the efforts of Matt Kessler, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":33345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8428,1],"tags":[8500,8499,8502,8501],"class_list":["post-33335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-event","category-uncategorized","tag-lou","tag-pride-parade","tag-um-pride","tag-weekend"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/2016-04-28-LOU-Pride.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}