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Campus Pride is a project run by MozaiQ LGBT Association, which began in 2015 and has had several partner organisations along the way. A project whose idea has an international origin, Campus Pride is the first initiative in Romania that aims to create a welcoming and safe environment and a climate of acceptance for all Romanian university students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
We are aware that this journey is not a simple one, but we believe it is necessary for all current and future students who see a university of the future, where each of our identities is accepted, respected and valued.
With the support of the Oslo Pride Association in Norway, we have developed the Pride@Work segment, which aims both to disseminate the results of previous years and to increase the level of labour market integration of LGBTQI+ students. Campus Pride has created a safe space for students, and Pride@Work aims at its complementary element, namely the entry of LGBTQI+ students and young people into the labour market.
To this end we have organised:
We found out together what are the realities in Romanian universities for LGBT students.
After a brief intermission, the project was revitalised in 2021, year which saw the unfolding of several activities and events, in Bucharest through MozaiQ, Cluj through Pride România Association and Timișoara through Identity.Education, as well as online, among which:
Episodes of homophobia, marginalisation and a lack of tolerance and acceptance are just some of the issues LGBT students face every day. Because of this, Campus Pride aims to help these students by creating safe spaces, information sessions, cultural and social events where students can get involved and show that their voice is strong. All starting, of course, with a party – PROUD ✰ Campus Pride Party
In the first part of December, Campus Pride organised the Unlock your Cultural Intelligence workshop (https://fb.me/e/43CdTZy6G & https://fb.me/e/Ec1FOHoB) aimed at changing perceptions and mindsets, but also at bridging the gap between different people who share the same goal.
At the opening of the Brave to be me photo exhibition, 7 students and a high school student show and tell us about their college and high school experience.
After the Queer Prom experience, our team is looking forward to seeing the queer student body again at a party worthy of the first months of the year, Campus Pride Party.
May kicks off with a SexEd Workshop for LGBT youth that aims to provide young people with resources and materials presented by sex education specialists on topics such as STDs, risks, safeguards, social norms and more. On 21 May the Campus Pride team has prepared an After Pride Brunch at Volum 4 to relax properly after the march.
What do we do when someone is verbally attacked on the street? How do we decide if it is safe to intervene in a situation? How do we ensure that our intervention does not escalate a violent or potentially violent situation? These are some of the questions we answered during the discussion How do we intervene in cases of physical and verbal violence.
The Back to school Party gives students in Bucharest a reason to rejoice. While October may not be a month students look forward to, we think a good party makes everything rosier. This academic year we aim to see you as often as possible and turn this social group into a real community. We’re raising the issue of LGBTQ+ people in academia by screening the comedy film Geography Club.
At HallowQueer, we had spooky fun with students to gay beats.
Together with COC Nederland, Campus Pride continues its series of workshops. In February we focus on Building LGBT Student Clubs in Romanian Universities, a workshop that aims to build on the ideas from December 2015. To keep spirits high Campus Pride is organising a Laser Tag evening.
A new workshop is the focus of April, How to run an LGBT student alliance. The aim of this meeting is for students to learn how to create a gay-straight alliance within their educational unit, how to coordinate a team of volunteers and how to host an event.
In June 2016, PRIDE month, we co-organised Bucharest Pride. A week full of events, parties and good times, all for the LGBTQ+ community. In addition, because everyone needs to feel heard Campus Pride has organised a Creative Workshop to create banners and slogans to be chanted during the march.
Campus Pride has decided to expand its team, so a Recruitment Workshop for future Campus Pride members is being organised in September. The process is quite complex, especially because we want to find the right people for the right job, so the recruitment was completed the following month.
In October 2016, we created Ally Week, an event dedicated to bringing the queer and ally student communities together. The Campus Pride academic year opens with the event The only choice is attitude in which we debated the realities and experiences of LGBT students in the university environment in Bucharest. As our team aims at a multidisciplinary development of students, this month we prepared the Opening of Allies Week,
The queer community comes in all shapes and colours, and Campus Pride celebrates the diversity of the human spirit with Intersex Solidarity Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance and Asexual Visibility Day. In addition, because we love cinema we organised an evening with CineMazaz to watch The Danish Girl together.
Because queer people never sleep, How Queers Stole the Chrismas is the perfect opportunity to show off your dance moves and forget the stress of the holidays and the session.
October 2015 started with the launch of Campus Pride Bucharest, followed by cultural events such as Campus Pride: Queer movie night by FAQiff, and then Campus Pride launched the first Board Games Evening. A wave of dynamic events designed to bring the student community closer together was unleashed next. Campus Pride: Student Party, and Halloqueer by Campus Pride, being just a few of them.
The month of November is marked by events with important themes for students, starting with a debate on topics related to gender identity at the TRANSmart meeting, and then QUEER Academy – Leadership Seminar – an event targeted at those who want to get more involved in the community, culminating in the timing of Queer History Month in February 2016.
In December Campus Pride is organising events to help queer students understand what it means to be an activist. That’s why we’re starting with a Safer Universities Workshop, where they were given tips and guidance both on how they can get more involved in the community, what exactly community organising means, what we can do to create a welcoming environment for the LGBTQ+ community in universities and so on. LGBT Short Films: ARES Retrospective launches the discussion on the importance of film in the lives of queer students. At the end of the month, the MozaiQ Association brings students face to face with a critical situation: the evicted families on Vulturilor Street. Thus Solidarity with the People on Eagles Street becomes the first encounter of students with the life on the ground of an activist.