Cville Pride
Cville Pride, formally the Charlottesville Pride Community Network, is a prominent LGBT organization in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ever since Chris came out as a lesbian in mid-2014, the group has been an important conduit for his emergent participation in the LGBTQ community.
Pride Festival
Back when he was a raging homophobe, a gay pride festival was the last place on earth Chris would have wanted to find himself. He was deeply upset when, in 2009, the fanclub Gay 4 Sonichu displayed a float of Sonichu for one of their “UGH!!!... pride parades.”[1] All this changed on 14 August 2014, when Chris came out on Facebook "as a Tomgirl, Intersex of Female Soul with Male Body, and a Tranny Cross-Dresser," later clarified (if you can call it that) as "a Lesbian Identified Male and Cross-Dressing Transgender." He immediately expressed an interest in attending "Pride Parades," where he thought he could get some play.[2] At the urging of his gal-pals, he took the initiative to attend the third annual Charlottesville Pride Festival, organized by Cville Pride, on 14 September 2014. It was held in Lee Park in downtown Charlottesville, and featured drag performances and information booths. He had planned to attend with Catherine, but at the last minute she came down with a case of car trouble.[3] Chris hung out for a few hours, and then went home and posted about it on Facebook.
| “ | I was at the Pride Festival today, and I really felt accepted and liked among the LGBT community; like I do belong there as the Lesbian Transgender that I am, and a lot of real women there showed me kindness and respect. :) I feel better about myself for that. But I was not in the mental state to meet new people yet, but I did make some acquaintances; talked with some of them for a bit. But I do feel that I really want to do more with the community, so I may join up with the C-Ville Pride, or something; I have some pamphlets and details. I will make my own decisions! | ” |
| Chris on Facebook, 13 September 2014[4] | ||
Not long after this, he added "Lee Park" as one of his Places on his Facebook page.
Bowling Night
While the full extent of Chris's involvement with Cville Pride is unclear, he soon took to keeping track of their events on Facebook, liking articles regarding lesbian or transgender issues. Chris's next verified Cville Pride event was "LGBTQ Youth & Family Bowling Night" on 10 June 2015, which put him back $5.00.
While it was open to "all ages," it is not clear if the organizers were imagining 33 as a serious number. Nevertheless, Chris went, again at the urging of his gal-pals, and seems to have had a good time, based on the photos posted on the Facebook page.
Weens couldn't resist trying to ruin Chris's fun, though:
All the photos were quickly removed.
Pride Night at Firefly
Chris noted on Facebook that he would be attending another Cville Pride-hosted event, "Pride Night at Firefly," a casual meetup at a Charlottesville restaurant, on 18 July 2015. At present it's not known if he attended or how many children he weirded out. That evening, however, he did put in an appearance at Impulse.
In 2015
On 19 September 2015, Chris returned to the annual Charlottesville Pride Festival in Lee Park. He was in generally good spirits but all was not perfect in Cwcville:
| “ | I am at #CVillePride . Having a good and safe time. Only complaint is no woman friend/partner to cuddle or hold hands with. | ” |
| Chris on Facebook.[5] | ||
This time around, instead of sitting by himself, he was affiliated with a local mental health service with a booth at the event. According to a reputable field agent, he wore a blue sleeveless top and white skirt with his Sonichu medallion. He had set up a bulletin board advertising his comic, and whiled away his time drawing caricatures and passing out flyers.[6] Weens attempted to ruin his day, but the decent folk of the Kiwi Farms thwarted the effort, thereby gaining karma.[7]
In 2016
Chris attended, bringing along his medallion and toy dolls (one an effigy of himself), pretending that the two were on a date together.
He was interviewed at the event, first previewed in a video which surfaced on 7 October. In response to the interviewer's question on the number of genders that exist, Chris answered with fifty-eight. Chris had gotten that number from an article on the number of gender options a Facebook user can choose.
Interviewer: Hey, look who it is. It's Christian Weston Chandler. How many genders are there?
Chris: Oh, I just learned, there's, like, 58.
Later, the interviewer posted the full video on YouTube.
Facebook posts from the event
| 17 September at 4:44 pm
I really did not know how many genders there are, but I am not and do not judge. Have a good day. At #CVillePride2016 http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/heres-a-list-of-58-gender-options-for-facebook-users/ |
| 17 September at 5:25 pm
Vinyl and I are enjoying the music at #CVillePride2016.
|
In 2017
Chris attended the event in 2017, posting on Facebook, "Good show so far; just chillin'; will give free hugs; come on down!"
He was photographed by the Daily Progress, a local Charlottesville newspaper, wearing the unicorn cosplay, the medallion, and his Z-Ring, while posing next to a drag queen. He later shared a photo of the newspaper on Facebook.
| Check out who's on page three of "The Daily Progress" today! Ultimate Participation Trophy! 😊🌸🌸🌸🌈 #CVillePride2017 |
NewsRadio WINA also published a photo with him.
In this photo taken by a Twitter user, Chris is shown walking by himself, while other people are socializing in the distance around him. He is lugging around bags, which probably contain Sonichu merch and his toys, if his trips to other events are any indication.
He also appears in background shots of videos.
In the audience, at around the 20 second mark, at top right:
| Cville Pride | |
| Direct link | Youtube, archive |
| Stardate | 16 September 2017 |
| TRUE and HONEST Sonichu Fan Videos | |
Same audience shot, with Chris appearing at 1:45, At 2:25, he gets up to walk to the aisle before returning to his seat later.
| Cville Pride | |
| Stardate | 16 September 2017 |
| TRUE and HONEST Sonichu Fan Videos | |