October has been designated LGBTQ History Month since 1994.
Credit: John OrtegaThis month, events on campus will celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identities and history, and raise awareness about current social justice issues affecting these groups.
October has been designated LGBTQ History Month since 1994.
“LGBTQ History Month is important to commemorate because it gives us an occasion to remember our history and celebrate our identities,” Nursing senior and Chair of Lambda Alliance Ian Jeong said. “It’s a time of joy and love but also a remembrance of our painful past and painful present.”
In honor of the month-long celebration, organizations around campus are hosting the following events:
Pronoun stickers at the LGBT Center
Throughout October, anyone from Penn’s community can go by the LGBT Center to pick up a pronoun sticker. These stickers are the Center’s way of commemorating National Coming Out Day, held nationwide on October 11. National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 to emphasize that the personal choice of coming out as LGBTQ is an important form of political activism.
“You don’t have to be protesting to make change,” Jeong said. “Living your truth openly is a radical act, and it reminds everyone that you are here and that you have a right to be here.”
LGBTQ+ history documentary series at Gregory College House
This October, Gregory College House is screening three documentaries that highlight aspects of LGBTQ history.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, at 8:30 p.m., Gregory is screening “The Celluloid Closet,” a 1995 documentary that explores how LGBTQ people are portrayed in American cinema. The film was nominated for four Emmy awards in 1996 and received the Freedom of Expression Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.
On Oct. 22, at 8:30 p.m., check out the screening of “How to Survive a Plague,” a 2012 documentary on the early years of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s America.
On Oct. 29, at 6 p.m., catch the screening of “Paris is Burning,” a 1990 documentary about drag queens and transgender women in 1980s New York City.
Lecture on queerness in the Middle East and LGBT politics under neoliberal Islamic regimes
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, Dr. Evren Savci from San Francisco State University will be on campus to discuss queerness, religion and politics in the Middle East. Savci, who is assistant professor of women and gender studies and Middle East and Islamic studies at SFSU, will be joined by Dr. Sa’ed Atshan, visiting assistant professor of peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College.
The event, which is organized by the Middle East Center and co-sponsored by the Association of Queer International Students and the LGBT Center, will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the LGBT Center.
Diversity lecture series
Drop by the Penn Bookstore second-floor conference room on Friday, Oct. 28 to attend a lecture organized by the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs to commemorate LGBTQ month. The lecture, which will address how to create safer spaces in professional settings, is free for all to attend. It starts at 12 p.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m.
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