The founder of the #BlackLivesMatter Twitter movement will come to UF on Monday.
At 6 p.m., Alicia Garza, the founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement on Twitter, will speak at the University Auditorium as part of Pride Awareness Month. She is being paid $10,000 to speak.
The awareness month starts in the middle of March and goes through the middle of April. During the month, UF’s Pride Student Union will host a series of events to educate students and Gainesville residents about the LGBTQ+ community, said Richard Lainez, the public relations director of Pride Awareness Month.
“We aim to have it so it is a yearlong thing, a lifelong thing,” Lainez said.
The purpose of the month is to support members of the LGBTQ+ community and focus on advocacy for these individuals, he said.
To celebrate Pride Awareness Month, there will be a queer fitness class, a drag show, a fashion show and other events for students and Gainesville residents, Lainez said. Most events will be held at UF.
Hiram Martinez-Cabrera, a co-president of PSU, said he hopes the month allows students who aren’t members of the LGBTQ+ community to gain a greater understanding of it.
The events are meant to include everyone, Martinez-Cabrera said. Santa Fe College students, UF students and those in the surrounding Gainesville community are encouraged to attend.
For the first time, a conference will also be held with other universities in Florida, he said.
The Florida Collegiate Pride Coalition Conference will bring LGBTQ+ students across the state together for workshops and presentations throughout the month about developing their identities and social change, he said.
“To support our movement, go out to the PAM events because they will be fun, informative and transformative,” Martinez-Cabrera said.
