Transgender Week of Visibility (TWoV) occurred last week, from March 31 to April 5, with KSC Pride hosting events throughout the week.
On Monday, March 31, KSC Pride and the KSC Office of Student Diversity, Belonging, and Equity (OSDBE) hosted a Transgender Day of Visibility photoshoot in the Madison Street Lounge, providing transgender students and allies of those students a chance to get professional photos taken.
Tuesday’s event, a gender-affirming care doctor/patient panel, was canceled due to scheduling conflicts among the medical professionals, according to Ian Kaplan, advisor to KSC Pride and coordinator of LGBTQ+ student support. Watercolor Wednesday is a weekly program that OSDBE runs, where Kaplan teaches students how to watercolor. The theme was pinks and blues in celebration of TWoV.
Thursday was an annual clothing swap, where over 1,000 articles of clothing were donated from the community and hundreds of people went to donate. Crafternoon was held on Friday, where students decorated the sidewalk with messages of love and support for students in the community.
Saturday, April 5 featured the week’s main event, a pride parade that had face painting, bracelet making, music and more on the Fiske Quad. Because of the weather, plans for the event changed, including ending an hour early. However, that did not deter the students and supporters who powered through the rain.
“This is a great event, it’s just good to be out here,” KSC Pride President-Elect and Event Coordinator Gracie Audet said. “We’re having a great time … It’s going good so far.”
Others agreed with Audet’s sentiment, including Kaitlyn Ferdinand, senior and treasurer of KSC Pride.
“With everything going on in the world, there is no better time than now to hold these events,” Ferdinand said. “Seeing people stand for what they believe in … is so great to see.”
Levi LBoeuf, senior and president of KSC Pride, said he could not be prouder of the work KSC Pride had accomplished.
“I’m super happy that it is thriving,” LeBoeuf said. “A lot of people I haven’t seen before have been participating and engaging with the tasks and activities [at the events]. I am very happy about that.”
KSC Pride saw success with the events, with students thanking KSC Pride for putting the events on, even if some students were not able to attend.
“I’ve received a lot of feedback from students in the community that just seeing these events are happening at all … just the event existing helps them to feel supported and seen at Keene State College,” Kaplan said. “That’s the reason we do the work that we do. We want every single student to know that they belong here.”
Dominic Rubio can be contacted at
drubio@kscequinox.com
