Alt events planned in Boycott of University of Warwick's Pride Month

Warwick Trans Society at Warwick University, together with Warwick Pride and Warwick PLAN (Professional LGBTQ+ and Allies Network) society, have called for a Boycott of the university’s Pride Month events, in response to the institution suspending its ‘Trans Inclusion Policy’. As an alternative offering for LGBTQ+ people attending and working at the university, a line-up of alternative events organised independently from the university have been announced.

A statement from Warwick Trans society explains: “We will not attend pride events hosted by the same university promoting institutional exclusion of trans staff and students, so stand with us to make it clear that there can be no pride without trans pride.

“The scheduled University-sanctioned Pride event is merely a hallow farce, attempting to signify support for queer people despite their removal of numerous trans rights on campus.

“Pride is a protest; Pride is a riot: We will fight back and stage our own Pride protest and disruption against the University and its sham “Pride” event. Our Pride is a Protest event will be inclusive of all queer identities and positionalities, and continue the long line of queer action against discrimination which includes the Coopers donut Riot, the Stonewall Riots, and more recent actions against governments and organisations seeking to limit trans and queer rights.”

The Alternative Pride events calendar includes the ‘Pride is a Protest’ event on Friday 6th June from 5.30pm on the Piazza.

All the events have been created and organised by and for the community, including the collaborations between societies: Warwick Trans Society, Warwick PLAN society, Warwick Kehillah, Warwick Pole and Aerial, and Warwick Allotment.

“Alongside the protest-focused events, we also want to facilitate collective support and the radical act of caring for ourselves and each other,” states Warwick Trans Society, “To that end, there are a number of events intended to bring queer joy to this Pride month, from relaxed coffee sessions to a fun opportunity to learn for yourself some of the moves you may have seen at Euphoria.”

They add: “All of our events are also open to all LGBTQUIA+ students and staff at Warwick and their supporters… We know that staff and post-grads may understandably feel hesitant to join society events, so please know that these events are for you as well, and that post-grads have been involved in organising and/or running several of the events!”

Other events organised include ‘Welfare Coffee’ on various dates, 'Mindful Planting' on Sunday 8th June, a screening of the film Treyf on Wednesday 11th June, a picnic in the Oculus Field on Thursday 12th June, and more. For a full list of events including dates, times and locations, follow Warwick Trans Society on Instagram.