FIRST ANNUAL ISLA VISTA PRIDE FESTIVAL

To cap off this year’s UCSB Pride: Transcending the Rainbow week of events, Queer Commission worked with the office of the Executive Vice President of Local Affairs to host the first Isla Vista Pride Festival.

The festival took place on Pardall Road and ran parallel to Chilla Vista in Anisq ‘Oyo’ Park. Every effort was made to make the two festivals complementary and indeed both were well attended with people moving freely between them.

The Pride Festival provided a variety of entertainment, including headliner Big Freedia, DJ Mycole Beeson, and Lemonade.  It also provided information about the LGTBQIA community and drew attention to hate incidents that are an unfortunate reality in Isla Vista and the larger campus community.

Queer Com sponsored several events during Queer Pride Week, some in conjunction with the Queer Student Union. These included the week’s opening ceremony in Storke Plaza. Keynote speaker writer performer and queer rights activist Ryka Aoki spoke in Storke Plaza about transcending the rainbow to be inclusive of a broader range of communities. Her performance included both her poetry and songs. Over the course of the week, a series of workshops, ranging from “Intro to Intersexuality” to “That’s So Gay: The Impact of Microaggressions,” covered topics including homophobia, stereotypes, and sexual assault.

The week’s activities also included both professional and student drag shows that played to capacity crowds. One of the highlights to cap off the week was the annual Queer Wedding officiated by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Michael Young.  The ceremony is an affirmation of personal commitments and a public statement of solidarity that includes members of the LGTBQIA community and allies.