In a spoken word performance, speech pathology lecturer Dr David Azul provided an insight into how people's experiences had shaped their understanding of gender and its importance.  

"I think it [gender] is totally overrated," Dr Azul said. 

"It does a lot of damage to people.

"I would like to live in a world where there is no gender."

They believed removing the labels on people's gender would promote more conversations and greater understanding. 

"Every understanding of sexuality is based on gender," Dr Azul said. 

They said even some of the acronyms used to collectively describe non-cisgender people were problematic.

"We need a different terminology if we want to be really inclusive," Dr Azul said. 

"Again, it is the question, do we really need it? What about not categorising it anymore?"

Individuality and inclusion is the theme of this year's Pride Festival at La Trobe.

La Trobe Bendigo counsellor Jeff Hood said all people should be valued and included. 

He said the theme reflected a desire to go beyond promoting diversity to focus more on inclusion.

The Pride festivities follow last week's cultural diversity celebrations.

RELATED: Bendigo schools, universities celebrate cultural diversity on Harmony Day

"By having a diversity of people here we develop a whole new understanding of life," La Trobe Bendigo head of campus Robert Stephenson said. 

He believed bringing people of all walks of life together was an important part of a university.

Mr Stephenson said university was where many people who had not previously felt free to be their true selves first experienced life as they thought it should or could be. 

He was hopeful the university environment would give people an opportunity to express themselves and become who they were.

The inaugural Bendigo Pride Festival begins on Friday.

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