In the bleak mid-winter, there comes a week of celebration, education and joy: Rainbow Week. So take some time out of your study schedule to learn about the many facets of the LGBTQ+ community or just to have bop and a rave to combat that stress.
While Rainbow Week is a time of pride in how far we’ve come, it is also an acknowledgement of how far we have yet to go. With that in mind, there are a plethora of opportunities to broaden your mind or to seek out voices that let you know that you are not alone. On Thursday, DU Gender Equality Society are holding a panel discussion called Hearing Trans Voices, where they hope to discuss intersectional feminism and failures of the representation of trans women. Alternatively, on Wednesday, there are two other panels on offer. Psychological Society are holding a panel on Queer Mental Health, exploring the impacts of growing up LGBTQ+ in Ireland. Meanwhile, Law Society in conjunction with Q Soc are hosting a panel on Being Queer in the Workplace, bringing together guest speakers from Arthur Cox, Bank of Ireland and other people who have experienced being LGBTQ+ in large Irish based companies to discuss the topic. Also, Q Soc are working with Clinical Therapies Society and the Nursing and Midwifery Society to offer an HIV Workshop using a lesson plan from Maggie McAlister, the content curator of SLIP Ireland, which will explore what HIV actually is, myths about transmission, and, of course, prevention and treatments. If you just want to paint the town rainbow, however, Cumann Gaelach and Q Soc are holding a Géilí on Tuesday night which guarantees to be a night of revelry and banter.
Elsewhere in the College, deadlines are approaching slowly day by day, like a medieval torture device that slowly lowers a knife as you are forced to watch. As such, the urge to lock yourself away is strong and going out is painfully out of the picture. But just because drinking and pubs are off the table doesn’t mean society events need be. There are a bunch of movie events this week. So get yourself a flask of tea and a bag of biscuits, curl up and escape into other lives, the comic and the tragic. To keep with Rainbow Week, Gender Equality Society are doing a screening of But I’m a Cheerleader on Wednesday night, a movie about a cheerleader who is sent to a conversion therapy camp to “cure” her lesbianism. Refusing to let go of the Halloween vibes, on Tuesday DU Film and Botanical Society are banding together to show Little Shop of Horrors, the 1986 sci-fi comedy musical classic. Another comedy quasi-musical that is worth popping into this week is the Jewish Society and Classical Society collaboration to show Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Thursday. However, if you’re after a more traditional depiction of the Ancient Romans, Italian Society are doing a screening of Gladiator on Tuesday, which may be more up your alley.
So, whether you are looking for a bop with Cumann Gaelach or some education with Q Soc or just a quiet movie night with your favourite society, this week has more than its fair share on offer.
