History of GAYpril at Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Rutgers students have adopted this affectionate term for their celebration during the month of April. “Gaypril” is an opportunity for the entire campus to involve itself in educational and celebratory programming on queer and trans communities and issues.
Past featured guests include: Nico Santos, The Prancing Elites, Lena Waithe, Jujubee and more.
Save the dates!
Events are from April 3 – 28, 2023.
More events are being finalized and added to the list below. Please check back for more details!
BACK TO THE 90’S: An SJE 30th Anniversary Celebration
Monday, April 3 | 70:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Livingston Student Center MPR
Where were you in ‘92? This party brings us BACK TO THE 90’S in recognition of our Center’s 30th Anniversary. Enjoy a dancefloor and DJ, snacks, and games that bring you back to the decade of our founding. Wear your best 90’s attire! Open to all.
QUASAR Conference
Wednesday, April 5 | 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST
Life Science Auditorium
Registration Link
A new symposium to highlight and celebrate the voices of LGBTQIA+ faculty and students at Rutgers in the Biological and Physical Sciences.
Co-sponsored by oSTEM and DICE IDEA Innovation Grant.
Queer Crafternoons
Thursday, April 6, 13, 20, and 27th (Every Thursday in April) | 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST
17 Bartlett St
RSVP Link
Join CAPS counselor Wil every Thursday in April for a different craft activity. Have fun, meet new friends, and learn about the connections between creativity and wellbeing!
Example crafts: friendship bracelet making; Star Wars 3D model kit; viking knit (a form of wire weaving); and parol (traditional Filipino lantern) making.
SparkNight: Celebrating the LGBTQ+ Community
Thursday, April 6 | 4:30 – 8:00 p.m. EST
Zimmerli Art Museum
SparkNights at the Zimmerli Art Museum are an opportunity to play, explore, and relax with friends through art and creativity.
This month’s theme is LGBTQIA Pride in honor of GAYpril 2023. The program will include guided gallery tours, music, a Ballroom Culture space hosted with LLEGO, and a tie dye activity while supplies last. Free and open to the public.
Career Drop-In Hrs with Airelle
Monday, April 10 | 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST
SJE Building
Stop by SJE the afternoon of April 10 to meet with Airelle (she/her/hers; Airelle), SJE’s official point person at Career Exploration & Success! You can ask Airelle for advice on fixing your resume or cover letter; get pro tips for acing an interview; or just sit and talk about life, school, and what you hope to accomplish next. No goal, dream, need, want, or idea is too big, small, or medium to warrant stopping by and having a conversation with Airelle when she is at SJE for drop-in hours!
oSTEM Presents: Dress, Express, & Success: Queerness in Professionalism
Monday, April 10 | 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. EST
17 Bartlett St
Come dressed in your best and explore the world of queer professional attire with oSTEM! Attendees will be provided the skills and knowledge to dress professionally for their career while expressing themselves and their identities. We will discuss dress codes, accessories, makeup, body language, confidence, and LGBTQ-owned fashion brands to support!
GAYpril Chats – Representation in Media with the Rainbow Pines
Tuesday, April 11 | 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. EST
Ludwig Center, Schonberg Room (9 Suydam Street), Douglass Campus
RSVP Link
Rainbow Pines and the Douglass Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee present a conversation on queer representation in media to celebrate GAYpril.
This event will feature a screening of a TED talk by Gabby Rivera, a novelist, and comic book writer. There will also be a comic writing and drawing activity. This conversation will take place on Tuesday, April 11th at 6:30 pm.
The event will be held in the Ludwig Center Albers-Schonberg Room. Snacks will be provided! Receive credit for Knowledge and Power – Douglass Experience Points!
Taking Space
Wednesday, April 12 | 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. EST
SJE 2nd Floor Conference Room (17 Bartlett St)
This is a place of rest, restoration, and rejuvenation where we work to dismantle systems of oppression. This space is held for you to speak what’s on your mind, process what you’re feeling, and be in community with others.
Second session on Wednesday April 19th, same time and place! Hosted by MSW graduate intern at SJE, Ace.
Inside/Out: Speaker Panel on BIPOC Mental Health and Substance Use, Healing, and Recovery
Wednesday, April 12 | 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Ludwig Center, Schonberg Room (9 Suydam St), Douglass Campus
Join CAPS, Stasie Maxwell, Dr. Alexandria Bauer, and other community members for a panel discussion on mental health, substance use, healing and recovery for BIPOC community members. Presented by: CAPS Community Based Counselors Kia Alexander, Dom Paz, Mei-ling Cheng, and Wil Vargas, & CAPS Director of the ADAP Program, Keith Murphy.
LLEGO Presents: QUEER BALL FOR THE AGES
Thursday, April 13 | 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. EST
College Ave Student Center Multimedia Room
$8 RU Students / $10 Non-RU Student
Honey, you’re invited to vogue the night away! LLEGO will host a queer ball dedicated to ballroom culture and HIV awareness. The category is EXTRAVAGANZA. All proceeds will go to Hyacinth AIDS Foundation.
Free STI & HIV Testing
Thursday, April 13 | 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. EST
Busch Student Center Multipurpose Room
On Thursday, April 13, HOPE will offer free STI/ HIV Testing! Simple, Easy, and Fast. Know your status. Bring your RU ID!
Co-sponsored by Rutgers Student Health.
Newark LGBTQ Film Festival
Friday, April 14 – Sunday, April 16
Weekend of April 14th, 2023, the Newark LGBTQ Community Center, along with their community partners, will host the first-ever Newark LGBTQ Film Festival.
Transmissions Presents: Tea 4 T Party
Saturday, April 15 | 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST
17 Bartlett St
Tea4T Party is a social event created to celebrate Trans and Nonbinary identities and create a fun and fanciful space to allow for those to dress up, drink tea, and do themed activities together.
SJE 30th Anniversary Banquet
Monday, April 17 | 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Livingston Campus
Invitations To Be Sent
This program will celebrate the 30th anniversary of our Center and over 50 years of pride and advocacy at Rutgers. We will invite our alumni, faculty, staff and students to gather in a benefit for LGBTQIA2S+ students, scholarships, and initiatives.
Co-sponsored by The Tyler Clementi Center for Diversity Education & Bias Prevention; The Rutgers University Rainbow Alumni League.
Babs Siperstein Humanities & Medicine Seminar
Monday, April 17 | 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. EST
Zoom
Babs Siperstein Humanities and Medicine Seminars take an inclusive and intersectional approach to broaden the understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues. The goal is to build health care workers’ capacity and knowledge base, thus increasing their ability to provide more comprehensive and holistic health care.
April Seminar: Presenter to be Jennifer Williams, the first transgender councilmember elected to serve in Trenton, NJ. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn about her journey and her political platform on behalf of her gender minority constituents.
Co-sponsored by Rutgers New Brunswick Libraries, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the Babs Siperstein PROUD Gender Center of NJ at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, and Rutgers Center for Social Justice Education & LGBT Communities.
oSTEM Presents: Jeopardy Night
Monday, April 17 | 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. EST
17 Bartlett St
Jeopardy Night is back!! Join oSTEM for competitive trivia on STEM topics and LGBTQ culture. Test your knowledge for the chance to win free bubble tea!
Fatphobia within Asian Identities ft. Sonalee Rashatwar
Tuesday, April 18 | 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. EST
Asian American Cultural Center
Join the Asian American Cultural Center for a critical conversation on fatphobia within Asian identities. Sonalee Rashatwar (they/he) LCSW MEd is an award-winning clinical social worker, sex therapist, adjunct lecturer, and grassroots organizer.
Taking Space
Wednesday, April 19 | 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. EST
SJE 2nd Floor Conference Room (17 Bartlett St)
This is a place of rest, restoration, and rejuvenation where we work to dismantle systems of oppression. This space is held for you to speak what’s on your mind, process what you’re feeling, and be in community with others. Presented by MSW graduate intern, Ace.
Navigating Conflict and Building Community: A Workshop for 2SLGBTQIA+ Folx & Our Allies
Wednesday, April 19 | 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. EST
Location Provided to Registrants
Registration Link
Join Ann Fink, Ph.D. and Wil Vargas, LCSW for a workshop that centers 2SLGBTQIA+ and Our Allies to learn together and discuss how to manage conflict while in community with others. RSVP requested and mask required. Please include accommodations requests and questions you may have.
Queer Student Alliance Presents: Queerbook Photos!
Friday, April 21 | 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. EST
CASC 411AB
Come dressed up in your most fabulous gender affirming outfits and get ready to take some gender affirming photos! Snacks and drinks will be provided. This is an excellent opportunity to mingle, make some new friends, and show off your pride!
“The Trans Nineteenth Century” Symposium
Friday, April 28 | 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST
Murray Hall Room 302 (in person)
Join top scholars in historical queer and trans studies for a full-day symposium, “The Trans Nineteenth Century,” on April 28th, 2023, 10am-5pm (time is tentative). This symposium brings together six scholars in historical trans studies in the U.S. and beyond to discuss their ongoing and new work in the field. The event, featuring Kadji Amin, Jules Gill-Peterson, Emma Heaney, Greta LaFleur, Jen Manion, and Mark Rifkin investigates the deeper history of trans ways of being in through the lens of the long nineteenth century in America, as well as interrogating queer and trans stances toward historicity and genealogy. Please join us for a series of three panels, conversation, and refreshments.
Out in Nature: A Queer Wilderness Hike
Wednesday, April 26 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. EST
Livingston Ecological Preserve
Time to get out in nature with Out in STEM! We invite you all to a wilderness hike at the Rutgers Ecological Preserve on Livingston campus. Walk with us, de-stress from finals, and learn to identify local wildlife with fellow oSTEM members! For more information check out the oSTEM LinkTree.
Pride Shabbat with Rutgers Hillel
Friday, April 28 | 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. EST
70 College Avenue
Join Rutgers Hillel for this year’s Pride Shabbat! We will have Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform kabbalat shabbat services, as well as a themed shabbat dinner celebrating queer jews from all walks of life! (Our shabbat events are always free to Rutgers and Middlesex County Community College students. Other guests may purchase a pass for a small fee).
Rainbow Graduation 2023
Wednesday, May 3 | 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. EST
College Ave Student Center MPR
Registration TBA
Save the date!
Rainbow Graduation honors the achievements of Rutgers lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and nonbinary, queer, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and queer spectrum (LGBTQIA2S+) undergraduate and graduate students. We use this occasion to honor students who have continued our traditions of pride and activism.
Gaypril Throughout the Years
