The 23rd annual Pride Week is in full swing and the U of T contingent is set to march.

Pride Toronto runs from June 23-29, and once again U of T will make its presence known at the Sunday Pride Parade.

The U of T posse involves several different groups on campus, with the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer Resources and Programs (LGBTQ) and the Student’s Administrative Council (SAC) at the forefront. They have been meeting for about a month and a half and hope to get 80-100 people out to march this year. The theme for this year’s group is “queer cheerleaders.” Students will sport blue pompoms and some will be dressed up in high drag.

This is U of T’s fifth year as a bronze sponsor of Toronto Pride. Julia Munk, SAC’s v.p. of equity, said that this contribution is important because “U of T has been known to be a fairly elitist university.” Munk believes that it’s important to “reach out and break down the stereotypes that U of T has developed” by getting involved in such issues. The equity office policy is “equity for inclusion” and they “want to see as many students getting involved in these issues as possible,” said Munk.

Nikki Redman, assistant to co-ordinator of LGBTQ, also believes that U of T’s sponsorship is important for students. This is “a positive space campus,” said Redman, and therefore it’s important that U of T “supports its staff, faculty, and students who are LGBT.” LGBTQ is hosting this year’s U of T Pride Pub, which will take place on June 26 at 6 p.m. at Hart House, and include a barbecue and a dance.

For their part, SAC has contributed $1,500 to the LGBTQ for Pride activities, and has allocated funds for a potential parade float and t-shirts. SAC is collaborating with the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in hopes of creating “an artistic float,” said Sheila Hunter, deputy to the v.p. of equity for SAC. The nature of the float is still to be confirmed, but “it will probably be a little abstract,” noted Hunter.

When asked whether the recent same-sex marriage ruling in Ontario will effect Pride celebrations, Hunter said that it will definitely “influence the mood of the day,” and the ruling is “nothing but positive.”

Not everyone at U of T is happy about the recent ruling, however. A statement against same-sex marriage appeared in the Globe and Mail on June 18 and included three U of T faculty members as signatories: Janine Langan, Thomas Langan, and Rabbi David Novak. According to the statement, the signatories do not believe that the institution of marriage “can justly be impugned as discriminatory.”

The statement went on, claiming: “Canadian law should continue to embody the conviction that marriage, as an opposite-sex union which is commonly aimed both at mutual support and at the procreation and rearing of children, is the principal social basis upon which our society seeks to ensure its vitality, stability, and perpetuation.”

Despite this dissent from some of the university’s faculty members, it’s guaranteed that more than a few U of T students will be “out” this weekend.