Bowdoin alumni, students, faculty, and staff celebrated Pride throughout the month of June, including with two alumni-organized events in Washington, DC, and New York City.
On June 11, Alumni Council member Mark Lenhart ’89 led Bowdoin alumni in the Equality March for Unity and Pride in Washington, D.C. “We enjoyed getting to know fellow alumni, learning about our shared experiences, and finding inspiration in the March,” Lenhart wrote, noting that alumni are “grateful for Bowdoin’s support.”
The group, sporting coveted Bowdoin rainbow t-shirts, was spotted by Theo Greene, Assistant Professor of Sociology, who was in D.C. conducting fieldwork. Greene joined the Bowdoin cohort for a stretch as they made their way to the Washington Monument.
In New York, Alumni Council member Matt Roberts ’93 and Andrew Fried ’08 once again hosted Bowdoin alumni, students, and guests at the 47th annual NYC Pride’s The March. Carrying a Bowdoin Pride banner down 5th Avenue, participants represented five generations of Bowdoin alumni and students. This year, Bowdoin marched in tandem with Williams, Amherst, Colby, and other NESCAC schools, who followed the example set by Bowdoin by sending alumni groups to The March.
Bowdoin alumni also volunteered and participated in Pride Portland! events in mid-June, including Shane Diamond ’10, who emceed the parade on June 18. “It was a huge honor to participate in Portland’s Pride activities,” including the opportunity to call the float for Speak About It, an nonprofit organization run by Diamond.
The LGBTIQA Alumni Network hopes to expand Bowdoin Pride activities in 2018 to include the Bay Area, as well as a little closer to home. “Being so close to Bowdoin, it would be great to see our LGBTIQA family represented” in Portland, observed Diamond. “Not just to connect other queer alums, but to show the community that Bowdoin is a welcoming and supportive place for LGBQTIA students.”
Upcoming LGBTIQA Alumni Network events include a conversation with Dee Spagnuolo ’96 (October 2017 in Washington, DC) and a lecture examining the effects of gentrification in gay neighborhoods on queer placemaking and community belonging with Assistant Professor of Sociology Theo Greene (March 2018 in Boston). For more information about events, to join the mailing list, or to connect with alumni, please visit the LGBTIQA Alumni Network homepage or Facebook page. All are welcome!
