Planning has been four months in the making for Pride Week, and The Bridge has certainly kicked it off in style. This year’s theme? OUT is the new in.

The Bridge is the College’s gay-straight alliance, and the week of April 15 is the culminating celebration for gay peers and allies across campus. To celebrate, The Bridge has put together a full Pride Week schedule for all.

The campus is glowing. Blessed with a week of tremendous sunshine, the College has come out on the quads to play, and with rainbow flags flying proudly from windows across campus, rainbow macaroons in the dining halls and students sporting their purple Pride Week 2012 shirts (available for purchase from The Bridge in Pulver Pavilion), Pride Week has begun with a bang.

On Sunday, celebrators met in Averill lounge for a bagel brunch and then held a field day—or “Field Gay”—outside with events like “Capture the Pride Flag.”

On Monday, events got rolling when EqualityMaine, an organization working toward marriage equality, spent the day meeting with students on campus, culminating with a lecture titled, “Love, Commitment and Marriage: Messaging Strategies to Win Marriage Equality.” The Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement co-sponsored the event.

Monday evening also featured what The Bridge touted as “a ridiculously fun event,” called Sex Pub, a night of sex trivia in teams of four in the Marchese Blue Light Pub. With incentives like gift cards to Treasure Chest II, Waterville’s favorite sex shop, competitors worked hard over beers and popcorn to answer the sexy questions.

On Tuesday, faculty, staff and students gathered in Dana Dining Hall’s Fairchild Room for a community lunch. That evening saw a coming out evening in the Marylow Coffee House, in which people could share their stories of opening up about their sexual orientation in a safe space and spend time with a supportive network of friends.

Pride Week’s keynote speaker comes to campus on Wednesday. ESPN and CNN columnist LZ Granderson presents “Media Matters: Race and Sexuality in Popular Culture” at 7:30 p.m. in Page Commons. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media-monitoring organization, awarded Granderson its award for online journalism in 2009, among his other recognitions and awards.

Recently, a lot of his work has focused “on race, especially with Trayvon Martin,” Patrick Adams ’13, a member of The Bridge’s steering committee, said. Students Organized for Black and Hispanic Unity (SOBHU) and the Athletics Department are co-sponsoring the event.

Thursday features a film screening of Circumstance, a 2011 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner that tells the story of “a wealthy Iranian family struggle[ing] to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession,” according to imdb.com. The screening will take place in Miller 014 at 7 p.m. and will include a discussion led by Assistant Professor of History John Turner.

On Friday, April 20, head up to Alfond Apartments 231 for Music and Munchies from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fiona Luray, a “folk/pop” singer/songwriter from Boise, Idaho, will be performing in the apartment. It will be a chill atmosphere with plenty of food and time to sit and talk. Muffins may make an appearance as part of the munchies fun, and Grant Patch and friends may perform as well.

And finally, don your boas and come out to Dragball 3: Return of the Queen in Foss, from 9:30 p.m. until 1 a.m. This annual event promises performances from groups across campus, cross-dressing and exquisite dancing.