Youth Program, Open Mic and More! November 7, 2010

Hey everyone! Dan here with a UR Pride Update:

- New Youth Programming
-  Open Mic Night
- Gayzer Quest
- Upcoming

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New Youth Programming

UR Pride attended a Regina High School Peer Support retreat where Lisa, Caitlyn and Shannon presented queer issues and information about the UR Pride Centre. Some feedback we received was the need for queer-friendly space for youth. To address this need, UR Pride is introducing a new Youth Program to its list of services.

This program includes turning the UR Pride Lounge (Rm 225 Riddell) into a youth-only space every Wednesday from 4 to 6pm. We’re inviting all youth to come and hangout with us. We indent to provide activities as well as the opportunity to talk about their issues, allow for questions, and even assist with planning GSAs. In the next week UR Pride will be rolling out posters to Regina area high schools to promote the space. If you’d like to inquire about our Youth Programming or wish to request posters, please contact us (contactus@urpride.ca).

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Open Mic Night

UR Pride will be hosting a very special November 12th edition of its Open MicApaloozaStockFest Extravaganza Night in the Institut Francais Rotunda from 7pm to 10:30pm. The Rotunda is located in the Language Institute building at the U of R. This free event will feature several local artists and musicians and is open to everyone. If you feel like performing, we encourage you to send Leah Keiser, our host, and email with your name and information so we can add you to the set list. We look forward to seeing you all! (Email Leah at chair@urpride.ca).

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Gayzer Quest

UR Pride and the U of R Anime Club are organizing a laserquest night. Those wishing to attend should contact James Falconer. See our page’s wall for his posts and more info. Deadline is Tuesday.

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Upcoming

Those who have signed up on our volunteer list will be getting emails asking for help in a few upcoming events. This include the LUSA Cabaret and World AIDS Day. Please stay tuned!

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That’s all for now! Don’t forget to check out our November Newsletter, http://www.urpride.ca/downloads/2010-Nov.pdf , and we’ll see you soon!

Dan Shier
UR Pride Centre

Busy Busy Busy October 22, 2010

It’s been one busy week for UR Pride. Spirit Day, Coming Out Day, It Gets Better Project, Ally Week, gay bashings, and interviews left and right. Here’s this week’s update on UR Pride.

Coming Out Day/It Gets Better Project
As you may have heard, UR Pride promoted National Coming Out Day on October 12th. We set up a table in the Riddell Centre building and gave out t-shirts and brochures. We had a tremendous turn out by the student body and we’re very proud of everyone who took part in the event. UR Pride also allowed students to follow the It Gets Better project (started by Dan Savage on YouTube) by allowing them to sit down and make their own video. Two of these videos have now been posted to UR Pride’s YouTube Channel and more are on their way.

Spirit Day/Ally Week
This week (October 18th to 21st) was Ally Week. Allies are the people that don’t identify as LGBTQ but are supporters and friends of the community. This week is meant to recognize these people and thank them for their contributions. October 20th was also the first ever Spirit Day. Spirit Day started as a response to the numerous homophobia-related suicides that have occurred over the last two months. News about the suicides caused a global reaction resulting in this day as a way of remembering those who died and as a way to bring awareness to the world about LGBTQ issues. Students were asked to wear purple as it represents the symbol of “Spirit” on the rainbow flag. On October 20th, the U of R campus was covered in dots of purple shirts, pants, shoes, and scarves as people took part in the event.

Gay-Bashing in Regina
Over the weekend, 27 year-old Aaron Hampton was assaulted by 3 men at a local restaurant. Hampton and two female friends were involved in the attack leaving Hampton requiring 12 stitches to his lip and scarred for life. The brawl is thought to have started over the Hampton’s painted nails. Homophobic slurs were voiced, one of the females defended Hampton, and the attackers made their move. Regina Police are investigating. UR Pride’s Lisa Smith was interviewed by CBC News about the incident and said that these attacks are not uncommon in Regina and that she is excited that someone has chosen to make the incident public using means like Facebook. The publicity will help show that gay-bashing does happen in Regina. If you’d like to find out more, visit the Facebook page dedicated to the story: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gay-bashing-exposed/167306166617785

Interviews and Media!
With all of the activity going on this month around LGBTQ issues, several media outlets are doing stories on queer issues. The UR Pride Centre has been approached by the CBC, CBC Radio One, News Talk 980 CJME, Journalism Students, and the Carillon Newspaper. UR Pride is currently working on an addition to the UR Pride website to showcase media stories in order to bring you articles and clips featuring the centre. For now, you can find the CBC coverage on our YouTube Channel atwww.youtube.com/urpridecentre. UR Pride is also this week’s feature in the Carillon student newspaper. Be sure to pick up your copy or download an online copy from www.carillonregina.com.

 

That’s all for this week! Have a good weekend!

Dan Shier

UR Pride Board

4 Quick Updates October 16, 2010

Hi everyone!

Here’s a quick update for the week. Hope your weekend is going well!

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100+
UR Pride would like to thank all of you for your support. Our Page has already broken 100 “Likes” and is still steadily climbing. We had a great turn out at Coming Out Day/It Gets Better and we want you to know that more fun is on the way. Tell your friends and spread the pride!

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Purple Shirts
Several organizations and communities across the world are encouraging others to wear Purple on October 20th to commemorate several young people who committed suicide this fall because of homophobia. We’re doing the same and asking everyone to join in and wear purple. If you don’t have a purple shirt, be creative! Buy a cheap white one and dye it, paint it, ink it!

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Ally Week
October 18th to 22th is Ally Week. What is an Ally? An Ally is someone who supports the queer/trans community and their fight for equal rights. These people don’t have to be queer themselves, and are often referred to as our “straight” friends. This is a special week to recognize them, thank them, and encourage others to become an ally of queer and trans people! Make sure you let your allies know you love them! Queer/Trans rights can’t go anywhere without the support of our allies to back us up!

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Education 101: Project on Homophobia
Some of you may have noticed posters around campus for an Education 101 Class asking for help. We’d like to help pass on this message…

The Ed 101 class is doing a presentation on Self/Other issues in the school. This group has chosen to address homophobia and will be making a short video presentation.
We need your help! If you or someone you know has a story about being treated poorly, well, or hasn’t noticed any different treatment due to sexuality, please send it in to us!

Contact sparkyoungupstart@gmail.com – Completely confidential.

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That’s ALL folks! Don’t forget we’re having a General Membership Meeting on Thursday the 28th (4:00pm URSU Board Room) and our Annual Halloween Movie Night on Sunday Oct 31st.

For more information on this update or on UR Pride in general, email us at contactus@urpride.ca

Cheers!
Dan Shier
UR Pride Centre

Thanksgiving Potlucks October 6, 2010

We here at UR Pride would like to thank everyone who has helped make our new centre a possibility.

Thank you to the dedicated board members, all of our executive directors and staff, the University of Regina, the Students’ Union, our neighbouring organizations, our founder, Sheldon Cooke, and our members and community for always support us. We feel that all of our hard work put in over the summer has paid off and we can’t express how proud we are to be here today as one of Canada’s leading Queer organizations.

Because we like you soooo much…

UR Pride would like to invite you to join us on Friday, October 8th, for a Thanksgiving Potluck!
We encourage everyone to create a dish and bring it to the UR Pride Centre (Riddell Room 225) at 11:30AM. We already have a turkey to carve so please bring your appetite and take a break from your classes.

We’d also like to encourage you to get seconds at the GLCR’s Thanksgiving Potluck. The Gay Lesbian Community of Regina will be hosting their potluck on Monday, October 11th at 6pm at the GLCR (2070 Albert Street). We encourage you to come with us and enjoy another hot meal and enjoy each other’s company.

Elections – Special General Meeting September 22, 2010

Thanks to everyone who came to our Annual General Meeting. At the AGM, we announced that we would be holding a Special General Meeting in order to have our ELECTIONS! This post will include everything you need to get started and learn more about UR Pride’s Elections.

ELECTIONS
The UR Pride Centre will be holding Elections for its Board of Executives and Greater Board on Sept. 14th at 4:00PM in the URSU Boardroom.

Elections are open to Students as well as Alumni, Faculty, and University Staff.
There are 12 board positions to be filled. These positions are:

Chair/President
Vice Chair/Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Student Support / Services
Human Resources
Communications
Marketing/Media
Faculty Advisor
University Staff Rep
Alumni Rep
Members at Large

All of these positions are described in the Election Kit linked below.

To nominate yourself or someone else for a position, please download this Election Kit which includes a description of positions, a nomination form, and a membership form for those who are not yet members of our organization.

www.urpride.ca/downloads/urpride-electionkit2010.pdf

Even if you do not plan to run for the board, we’d like you to attend our meeting, even if it’s your first time! As always, juice and cookies are provided.

See you all!

Dan Shier
UR Pride Board

Annual General Meeting 2010 August 31, 2010

Date: Tue Sept 14, 2010, 4pm

Place: UR Pride Centre Lounge (Riddell Centre Room 225)

Hey everyone! UR Pride is holding its Annual General Meeting to kick-off the new academic year! This is a meeting for our membership as well as all students who are interested in the UR Pride Centre. Before you attend the meeting, we’d like you to take a look at the documents below so that you’re familiar with them for the meeting. Please RSVP to the Facebook group.

Agenda:

1. Welcome to New Students
2. Rebranding
3. ED Report
4. Chair Report
5. Annual Report
6. Financial Report
7. Calendar of Events
8. Policies and Bylaws
9. Special General Meeting (SGM) Agenda (Wed, September 29th, 4pm)

* below are all the corresponding documents in a zip file (we can’t send the annual report out because it need the financial statement which can not be done until Sept 1.)

www.urpride.ca/downloads/UR_Pride_AGM.zip

Welcome to the New UR Pride Centre! August 23, 2010

First off, welcome (and welcome back) to the University of Regina! The beginning of the Fall 2010 semester brings new classes, new faces, and a new face to the U of R’s Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. Starting at the end of the Winter semester, we asked our membership to vote on a new name for our organization. A name was decided and the process began to rebrand the former GBLUR Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity.

Well after a long summer of application forms, fees, logo alterations, website domain applications, and painting, we’re proud to announce that the GBLUR Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity Inc. is officially now the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity Inc.

Why the new name? While we respect our founders and their successors and know that this centre would not exist if it weren’t for their hard work, we felt that the need for a new name was strong enough. The “UR Pride” name was chosen for its simplicity, straightforwardness, and inclusiveness.

We’d also like to introduce our new Executive Director, Lisa Smith. Lisa has been a board member for most of her university career and graduated early this year. She has already spent several hours this summer helping rebuild the centre from the ground up. She has helped prepare workshops and events for the upcoming year and we look forward to providing useful, informative, and fun events and activities throughout the coming academic year.

Finally, we’d like to announce our new location. It’s not very far from where we used to be. In fact, it’s 2 feet across the hall. The UR Pride Centre is now located in Riddell Centre room 225. Our new space features a window! As well as an organized and well-stocked resource library, comfy seating, and a fresh coat of paint. We hope you like what we’ve done with the space and invite you to come chill with us!

So what’s next?

We will be holding an info booth during Orientation and Welcome Week to help get the word out about the new centre and its services. We look forward to meeting everyone on campus and we’re just SUPER excited for all the stuff we’re about to throw at you this year.

Thanks for being a part of UR Pride!

Dan Shier
Chair – Summer 2010
UR Pride Board of Directors