Some Pride with that? A look into Mason's 2013 Pride week.

Mason's 2013 Pride week runs from April 1 through April 7, with a variety of events focusing on the contributions from the LGBTQ community (photo courtesy of Mark Fowler).

As April comes around, so brings on the “month of weeks.” Each April, George Mason University’s Fairfax campus turns into a celebration of the diversity that our campus holds.

Next week kicks off the university’s annual Pride Week, which focuses on those identifying on the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning) spectrum. With the nation discussing this week’s Supreme Court cases on the issue of same-sex marriage, it seems like an appropriate time for our campus to reflect upon the LGBTQ contributions to our university, community and nation. 

This year’s Pride Week will feature Aiden Aizumi who is a female-to-male transgender man currently attending Pasadena City College. Recently recognized by the Matthew Shepard Foundation for his work as an LGBTQ activist, Aizumi will be giving a lecture followed by a signing of his book “Two Spirits, One Heart: A Mother, Her Transgender Son, and Their Journey to Love and Acceptance,” which he wrote with his mother.

This year’s Pride Week will also focus on a variety of overlooked topics. Sometime’s overshadowed are the issues facing same gender loving African Americans. To spur discussion, Pride Week this year will host an event in coordination with Mason’s English department and the LGBTQ office to highlight the works of literature by and about this group.

This event will provide a platform for discussion on race, gender identity and sexual orientation through literature. The discussion will be lead by Mason’s Dr. Keith Clark, a professor of African American literature in the English department, and Amena Johnson, Mason’s LGBTQ program coordinator.

Throughout the week, the work of local LGBTQ artists and Mason students will be on display in the Johnson Center room 116 to showcase artists’ work centered on the theme of gender. This opportunity allows members of the Mason community to see ideas of gender identity and sexual orientation expressed in art form.

Finally, Pride Week will host its annual Drag Show, always a hit among the Mason community. Featuring student performances, this is a do-not-miss event for any Mason student. If you’ve never been to a drag show, you’ll want to be there as it is quite an experience.

The Johnson Center will be transformed into a stage as performers strut their talents. The drag show will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2 contestant Pandora Boxx. The event will not only feature student performers, but also professionals from the Washington D.C. area. Bring your dollar bills to present to the Drag Queens and Kings during their inevitably stellar performances.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the events going on surrounding Pride Week. To find out more about the ongoing events visit the LGBTQ office located in Student Union Building I, or find what interests you by looking at this year's calendar of events.