The second annual Pride Parade in UCD took place on Tuesday, 20th February, as part of the “Rainbow Week” events to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month
On Tuesday 20th February, the second annual pride parade took place in UCD. Organised by UCDSU, the event is part of “Rainbow Week”, which aims to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month on the UCD campus. The parade drew a significantly large group made up of students and staff and included addresses from UCDSU Sabbats Officers and representatives of the LGBT Staff Network and UCD LGBTQ+ Society.
The first ever pride parade in UCD took place on Wednesday, 12th April 2023. As previously reported by The University Observer, last year’s pride parade was promoted by former UCDSU LGBTQ+ Campaigns Coordinator Eoghan Ryder and aimed at having a pride-related event beyond Pride Week - which last year took place in November.
An unfortunate occurrence spoiled last year’s parade: the posters promoting the LGBTsoc Lavender Ball were torn down shortly after being put up around campus. The act was severely condemned at the time and to this day, members of the queer community continue to think back on the event as a dark page in UCD queer history.
Last year’s events influenced the sentiments of the second iteration of the parade. Alongside celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month on campus, the protest roots of pride represented the leitmotif of the 2024 pride parade. As the congregation prepared to step out of the Atrium of the Old Student Centre, UCDSU Campaigns and Engagement Officer Miranda Bauer instructed participants on the chosen chants for the day. The first was “Pride is a protest”, to which the congregation responded “Don’t forget it”. The second chant said, “When trans rights are under attack; stand up, fight back”, with the word ‘trans’ at times replaced with ‘gay’, ‘human’ and ‘students’. Bauer also came up with a third chant during the march: “we’re here, we’re queer, we’re filled with existential fear”, which was met with laughter from those in the congregation and by passers-by.
Alongside celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month on campus, the protest roots of pride represented the leitmotif of the 2024 pride parade.
The congregation walked from the Atrium to Sutherland Green. Although not many people joined the parade as it passed through campus, a considerable number of people between students and staff persevered in the adverse weather conditions, showing their pride by chanting and waving flags.
Once the congregation reached Sutherland Green, UCDSU Campaigns and Engagement Officer Miranda Bauer thanked the participants for their presence and opened the floor to the speakers. UCDSU Welfare Officer Jill Nelis opened the address, emphasising that to talk about pride “we need to talk about its history: it started as a protest. And today it’s a perfect symbolism of the fact that we still need it.” Nelis reiterated this sentiment to The University Observer after the parade. Specifically, the UCDSU Welfare Officer said: “to negate protest from pride negates pride altogether. [...] To have pride is to have protest.” Furthermore, Nelis emphasised the strategic role of UCD as a global university to ensure that members of the LGBTQ+ community feel included: “there are students [in UCD] who come from countries where it is not legal yet to be gay [...] we want UCD to be a safe space for them.”
UCDSU Welfare Officer said: ‘to negate protest from pride negates pride altogether. [...] To have pride is to have protest.’
Proving Nelis’ point, an Italian student who participated in the parade spoke to The University Observer about their experience as a queer international student in UCD: “Being here is is much different than being a student in Italy because I feel like here, there is a much stronger sense of community around queer themes and issues. [...] I feel UCD is a very inclusive space from my experience, and very much oriented in making queer students feel safe on campus.”
The growing inclusivity with regards to LGBTQ+ themes was further confirmed by a final year student who identifies as bisexual. This student initially struggled to feel included since everything was online during their first year; however, as in-person campus life resumed, this student “noticed the inclusivity is getting better on campus, and it’s something that we can continue to push forward and make sure that everyone feels included constantly.” Although this student could not participate in last year’s parade, they expressed their excitement about being involved this year, since “it’s a nice environment to be in.”
As in-person campus life resumed, this student ‘noticed the inclusivity is getting better on campus, and it’s something that we can continue to push forward and make sure that everyone feels included constantly.’
Speaking to The University Observer, UCDSU Campaigns and Engagement Officer Miranda Bauer stressed the importance of organising pride events on campus: “The world has made a lot of progress in regards to gay rights [...] once we achieve that stage of acceptance, it’s important to maintain it. Now you have a community; before, queer people were also isolated. [...] Now it’s making sure that we are not hidden anymore and we are visible.” Whilst overall satisfied with the parade’s turnout, Bauer expressed the hope that as UCDSU “keep(s) practising”, these events will eventually become stables of celebrating Pride on the UCD campus.
Whilst overall satisfied with the parade’s turnout, Bauer expressed the hope that as UCDSU ‘keep(s) practising’, these events will eventually become stables of celebrating Pride on the UCD campus.
Alongside the UCDSU and students, UCD Staff also give invaluable contributions to the event. For instance, a spokesperson of the UCD LGBTQ+ Staff Network echoed the importance of protest to celebrating pride. Speaking to The University Observer, Associate Professor Ernesto Vasques del Aguila added that “we have rights, but we are not in a post-homophobia era – we are still fighting for rights for everyone. So it’s time to celebrate; it’s time to be bold and proud.”
Speaking to The University Observer, Associate Professor Ernesto Vasques del Aguila added that ‘we have rights, but we are not in a post-homophobia era – we are still fighting for rights for everyone. So it’s time to celebrate; it’s time to be bold and proud.’
Tuesday’s parade was only one of the events UCDSU organised for Rainbow Week; all these events share a commitment to ensuring members of the LGBTQ+ community feel comfortable in their identity during their time in UCD. As such, some of these events are creative-based. For instance, a make-up masterclass with representatives from Harvey Nichols took place in the Harmony Studio on Wednesday, 21st February. UCDSU Welfare Officer Jill Nelis described the event as an opportunity “to create a safe space for a conversation about makeup and in general being comfortable in one’s skin.”
Speaking to The University Observer, the make-up artist who taught the masterclass highlighted how make-up can be used to express pride: “I’m a transgender make-up artist, so make-up is a huge tool for my self-expression and my gender identity. It’s also something that I’ve done for the last fifteen years on trans women, and even trans men – showing them how they can adjust their features and feel more comfortable in their own skin; make-up is incredibly powerful in that aspect.”