Fanshawe Pride festivities enter new, virtual direction

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: FANSHAWE STUDENT UNION PUBLICATIONS
Students can win a $50 gift card at Queer Eye trivia, as part of the Fanshawe Student Union’s (FSU) Pride Week. To learn more about this and other events, go to fsu.ca/events

As with all things in 2020, Fanshawe’s Pride Week is taking a new direction.

In the time before COVID-19, the College typically showed its support by raising a rainbow flag outside of M-building and participating in the Pride London parade.

Now, the Fanshawe library has stepped up to the plate to help promote events that have been safely organized in light of the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s activities for LGBT Pride will be a virtual, community-focused collaboration between the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU), Fanshawe’s library and media services, and student service’s Here for You campaign.  

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“This is the whole College community really getting involved,” said Jessica Bugorski, director of library and media Services. “It’s a week to celebrate, but also to learn.”

Fanshawe’s 2020 Pride Week runs from July 20 to 24, to run alongside the Pride London Festival (July 16 to July 26). Fanshawe’s events include:

  • Monday July 20: Drag Queen makeup tips with Eve Hill
  • Tuesday July 21: Queer Eye trivia
  • Wednesday July 22: Drag Queen story time with Roxy Rhymes, Galaxy Rose, and Poison Ivylee
  • Thursday July 23: Acoustic Afternoon with Sarah Smith, as well as a recitation of Fanshawe College history from Cherry Poppins
“This year's online FSU Pride Week has a little something for everyone,” said FSU events and activities manager, Kevin ‘Beef’ Masterson. “We have been planning our events to mirror what we would have had on our campuses live in any other year. Pride is something the FSU has always supported fully. The idea was to translate the fun of Pride to our fsu.ca online events. Please tune in and enjoy.”

All events, except for the Queer Eye trivia, will be pre-recorded and available for viewing at all times once they have premiered on the FSU’s Facebook page, in the IGTV section of the fanshawesu Instagram account, and on the FSU YouTube channel (fsuweb).

The trivia event will start at 7:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m., and can be accessed through any web browser. The winning prize is a $50 gift card for the winner’s choice of Amazon, SkiptheDishes or President’s Choice (which can be used at No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore or Loblaws). The link to the game can be found at fsu.ca/eventInfo/trivia-queer-eye.

Burgorski said one of the advantages to having the events posted online is so that they remain accessible to individuals who may not be familiar to Pride festivities.

“I think this is a really great leaning opportunity,” she said. “What we’ve done is created a guide for students to learn about all different facets of Pride Week, they can access that online to learn quietly in the background. It’s important to acknowledge that events like Pride are not just a week. We want people to learn all year round.”

Bugorski is also encouraging everyone to share their thoughts on what Pride means to them during the week. Students can contact the library via Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and they can submit their photos and videos to librarynullfanshawec.ca. They are also welcome to contact the library with any suggestions for upcoming events and programming.

To learn more about Fanshawe’s Pride Week, go to fsu.ca/events.