This week, it’s the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community’s time to shine on Penn’s campus.
QPenn — an annual week-long celebration of the LGBT community — began Sunday night with a launch party at the LGBT Center. With the theme of “Queer Renaissance,” the point of the week is “to connect the past with what’s going on in the future,” College senior and QPenn Co-Chair Patrick De Gregorio said.
With the legal changes that have occurred in the past year — such as the December repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and Obama’s February declaration of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional — the LGBT world is in the midst of a “legal renaissance,” De Gregorio said. The week will be an opportunity to look back and see how far the legal rights of LGBT individuals have progressed, he added.
The hope is that people will “think about some things that they haven’t thought about before,” College junior and QPenn Co-Chair Quintin Marcus said.
On Penn’s campus, the tradition of QPenn extends back to 1983, when the first LGBT awareness week was held under the name BGLAD, LGBT Center director Bob Schoenberg said. Since then, the week has been held under various names — settling on QPenn several years ago — and has “gotten progressively more elaborate,” he said.
This year is no exception. With three different dances, a Pride Photo Shoot hosted by Allies — the LGBT interest and advocacy group for straight students — and Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia’s Fifth Annual Pride Games, among others, the week promises to be full of entertaining activities.
However, more serious events remind the Penn community of the ongoing struggle for LGBT rights both on and off campus. Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality Mara Keisling will give the keynote address Monday night at 8 p.m. in Huntsman Hall. Her presence at Penn is especially relevant this year, De Gregorio said, given the recent debate over transgender health care for faculty and staff.
“Even in accepting communities it’s important to remind people that there are still issues to be tackled,” said College freshman Hugh Hamilton, vice chair of Finance and Development for the Lambda Alliance — Penn’s umbrella organization for the LGBT community.
The week’s intention is “to get people who aren’t ordinarily involved with the LGBT community at Penn to be more involved,” Schoenberg said. The events are open to everyone — people who identify as LGBT, allies and the general Penn community.
College junior and advocacy chairman for the Queer Student Alliance Stefano Di Tommaso said QPenn was one of the ways he first got involved with the LGBT community. With the “increased visibility” of the community on campus, the week was his “way in” freshman year.
However, QPenn aims to increase awareness and involvement for everyone at Penn. College freshman Brittany Jones-Ali, who identifies as a “strong ally,” plans on attending several of the events, including Friday’s QSA Drag Show.
“Before coming to Penn, I didn’t realize how accepting the school was,” she said.
