Faculty, staff and students joined in the celebrations Tuesday as the Pride flags were raised high on the flag poles at both the Keele and Glendon campuses.
“We’ve had a lot of great support from the community,” said Aaron Doupe, manager of student affairs in the Office of Student Services at Glendon College.
As a testament to that support, Patrick Monahan, vice-president academic & provost, Toby Mayer, external coordinator for Trans, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay Allies at York (TBLGAY), Noël Badiou, director of York’s Centre for Human Rights, Professor Michael Gilbert, chair of the SexGen Committee, Alastair Woods, vice-president campaigns and advocacy for York Federation of Students (YFS) and Professor Sheila Cavanagh, coordinator of the Sexuality Studies Program, all spoke at the Keele event.
“I think it’s really fun and there seems to be a lot of interest,” said Doupe.
Following the speeches, a rainbow cake was served. The Pride flags will fly until Monday, July 2.
Aaron Doupe
The celebration will continue downtown this weekend. TBLGAY and YFS has once again worked with the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) to design a float for the Pride Parade. This year’s theme is: Love, Love, Love, Love. The float will pump out LGBT anthems with the word “love” in them, said Woods.
Artists Hazel Meyer and Logan MacDonald designed T-shirts, which will be handed out during the Pride festivities. Loot bags will also be tossed from the float. The march goes ahead rain or shine.
There will also be a table Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1 – booths B29 and B30 – on Church St. north of Gloucester.
All York students, faculty, staff and their friends are welcome.
For more information, e-mail vpcampaigns@yfs.ca or visit the SexGen York Committee website. For more information about the float, contact Alastair Woods at vpcampaigns@yfs.ca.
For more photo of the event, visit the YFile Flickr gallery and scroll down to the photo gallery.