Penn State's Pride Month includes horror-themed event with self-described 'cult leader' drag queen
Penn State University is celebrating student 'Pride Month' this April with an event on Wednesday about the intersection of LGBT identity and horror films.
Peaches Christ, whose real name is Joshua Grannell, is a self-described 'Filmmaker' and 'Cult Leader.'
Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) is celebrating student “Pride Month” this April with an event on Wednesday about the intersection of LGBT identity and horror films.
Penn State’s Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity announced the Pride Month celebrations in a recent Instagram post.
“We are thrilled to unveil our calendar featuring each of the special events this month, all celebrating queer identities and uplifting LGBTQ+ voices,” the post says.
The center’s listed events include a “Queer for Fear” lunch with two LGBT activists, Heather Petrocelli and a drag queen with the stage name, “Peaches Christ.”
Petrocelli is the author of Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator, which an Amazon description says is a “groundbreaking empirical study of the LGBTQ+ community that not only documents the opinions, habits, and tastes of the horror-loving queer spectator but also evidences how and why queers have a distinctive relationship to the horror genre.”
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Petrocelli describes herself as an “expert in queer spectatorship of film” on her Instagram account.
Peaches Christ, whose real name is Joshua Grannell, is a self-described “Filmmaker” and “Cult Leader.” The performer is also a graduate of Penn State University.
“In a live stage presentation based on the book Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator, author Heather O. Petrocelli is joined by drag legend and Penn State alum, Peaches Christ,” an event description from Grannell’s website states. “Together, they discuss their shared pasts, favorite scary movies, and what makes horror queer.”
A free event, the program is also “[p]art lecture, part drag show, part podcast-style chat, this event is an opportunity to learn about horror’s queer roots and unlimited futures.”
According to its web page, the Penn State’s Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity promotes an “open, safer, and inclusive environment honoring gender and sexual diversity.”
Other Penn State Pride Month programming includes a “Super Gay 5K,” a self-defense workshop, a “Pride Prom” and a “Lavender Recognition.”
Campus Reform contacted Penn State University and the Center for Gender and Sexuality Diversity for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
