Rice University celebrated its LGBTQ+ Pride Week with a series of events highlighting inclusion, community, visibility and the importance of embracing LGBTQ+ identities. Centered on the theme Queerly Ever After, the week brought together students, faculty, staff and allies to celebrate LGBTQ+ identities, share experiences and build community across campus.
Organized by the Office of Access and Institutional Excellence and Rice PRIDE, the Pride Week planning committee included representatives from across the university. Luján Stasevicius, director of language instruction in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures and a volunteer with the Pride Week committee, emphasized the importance of bringing together individuals from different departments and professional backgrounds to support a common goal.
She explained that Pride events provide important visibility for students, allowing them to see LGBTQ+ individuals represented throughout the university community. Such visibility can reinforce a sense of belonging across the campus and demonstrate that Rice is a welcoming place.
This year’s theme encouraged individuals to write their own stories and embrace the freedom to define their futures. Stasevicius emphasized that nobody should feel inferior or uncomfortable because of who they are. She also noted that the support students experience at Rice can provide lasting confidence as they enter professional environments that may be less accepting.
Pablo Hernandez, lead administrative operations specialist in Health and Student Wellbeing and another volunteer with the Pride Week committee, said celebrating Pride during the academic year gives students who are away from campus in June — when Pride Month is traditionally held — another opportunity to participate.
“Having a time to celebrate, to come together and to say we’re not only accepting but celebrating everybody here is really important,” Hernandez said. “I feel like it helps students feel safer, feel seen and feel like the community here embraces everybody.”
The week’s programming included health-related activities, clothing swaps, movie screenings and a film festival, offering opportunities for community members to participate in different ways. Hernandez connected these activities to the university’s broader culture of care, describing Pride as a way to ensure everyone feels respected, recognized and valued. He also emphasized the importance of honoring those who fought for LGBTQ+ rights in previous generations.
The week’s closing celebration featured a campus miniparade, which included remarks from speakers, performances and a postparade festival in the Academic Quadrangle. A central highlight was keynote speaker Brian Riedel, associate director of the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality. His address focused on hope, resilience and the importance of creating a future in which LGBTQ+ individuals can thrive.
Drawing inspiration from science fiction author Octavia Butler, Riedel shared the message that “the very act of trying to look ahead, to discern possibilities and offer warnings is itself an act of hope.”
He highlighted the Houston Area L.O.V.E. Survey, a collaboration involving the Montrose Center, the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. With more than 1,000 respondents, the survey examines LGBTQ+ Houstonians’ experiences with housing, employment, health care, safety and community well-being, providing data to better understand the community’s experience and challenges.
Riedel reminded attendees that progress does not eliminate the need for continued advocacy. “There’s no single answer that will solve all of our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead, there are thousands of answers, at least, and you could be one of them,” Riedel said, paraphrasing Butler.