Hindsight is 20/20: The Past is a Mirror to the Future
Join us for welcoming remarks from the Conference Committee and University President and some tips to help you make the most of this year’s virtual conference!
Does your campus need some help in becoming more LGBTQ+ aware, in offering more or better services for LGBTQ+ students, or in general in being more LGBTQ+ inclusive? The goal of this workshop is to empower student leaders as well as equip both student leaders and faculty/staff with the tools necessary for a successful change on their campus. This includes tactics for advocating for change, skills for presenting to and meeting with administrators, and tips on how to use research and statistics to advance your goals. Attendees will also be able to network with other student activists while sharing questions and experiences.
As a TEDx speaker, voice of the ACLU’s Change.org campaign and contributor to The Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone and Democracy Now!, Lara Americo talks about social justice for queer and trans people of color. She’s the founder of the nonprofit Comic Girl Coffee + Books, an inclusive safe space for queer and transgender people located in Charlotte, NC. In her talks, Americo helps audiences understand the often complex topic of gender identity and the gender binary using her personal experiences within the LGBTQ community.
How can our LGBTQ ancestors' activism and advocacy inform our lives today? How can we find and tell their stories? How does our past inform our future, and ultimately our liberation? Take a virtual walk amidst some of the people and places that made LGBTQ history in the US, We’ll also highlight a new LGBTQ local history project created by students and staff at Ithaca College (NY). Ithaca's LGBTQ history is a history of alternative organizing, alternative musical genres, and creating services for our community as an alternative to existing ones built on frameworks of power, privilege and oppression.
When historians happen upon LGBTQ figures in history, the queerness of these figures is often written off as something else. A common excuse being that the historical figure's lover is just a really close roommate, despite neither of these two 'roommates' never marrying and living solely with each other. This presentation will talk about these historical LGBTQ figures like Sappho of Lesbos and Ai of Han, and their 'roommates', 'really close friends' and 'brothers in arms'.
In truly unprecedented times, we are met with even more unexpected decisions. This year the Supreme Court has ruled that workplace rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are extended to LGBTQIA+ and trans* identified individuals. What does this mean for individuals? How far do these protections go? Where does this victory take us next? Join in an exploration and discussion of queer rights in the workplace and the trajectory we are headed in for the future.
As we engage with our world, especially the work place, how do we ensure that we keep our queer identities and create a safe and affirming space for others? When I was an undergrad student, I felt empowered and driven by my queer identity to make a difference any way I could. However, when I entered "the adult world" after graduating and began a career, I found myself overwhelmed. How do I have my professional self and my queer self? What do I do when my co-workers won't use my pronouns despite every reminder given? In this workshop, we will review action steps that can be taken in a professional setting to ensure LGBTQIA inclusion and affirmation.
Christopher Wounderly
M.Ed. Educational Leadership in College Student Affairs, Bloomsburg University
A discussion session workshop about the story and journey of a Drag Queen, Trixy Valentine, who grew up in rural NEPA. This session is a time to listen to how drag can empower, uplift, and unite people in an area that feels they cannot leave the closet. Drag is more than the makeup, wigs, or a performance; it is a catalyst to finding my resilience, strength, and voice. As a nonbinary AMAB, I had found my inner diva to find my path on being who I am today. Meet a Drag Queen from a small town who learned you do not need a city to discover who you are.
The number of lost LGBTQA spaces grows every year. But can a focus on loss overshadow stories of resilience and reinvention? For this session, participants will be given online access to the documentary film, All We’ve Got, which looks at a number of thriving spaces around the US that center LGBTQ women, and asks how they’ve managed to survive despite the odds. Then, during the session, filmmaker Alexis Clements will facilitate a conversation with participants about what it means to center the resilience of community spaces that aren’t often the focus of broader conversations about LGBTQA communities.
This session will explore mental health concerns within LGBTQA+ communities, as well as barriers to service seeking. Additionally, it will discuss ways to provide appropriate support and more effective mental health treatment.
This session will conduct dialogue revolving queer consciousness (the consciousness of one's queer identity) and how that plays a role in Young Adult literature. By looking at the representation of queer women specifically, it will be important that we talk about queer consciousness as well and its interactions with the major themes of the novels. When talking about these concepts we will primarily be focusing on queer novels written by queer women and discuss how queer consciousness and representation show up differently. Not only will this session talk about these concepts but allow dialogue to take place regarding representation in Young Adult literature and how queer people are being presented and who the intended audience is.
Did you think TikTok was only about trendy dances? Discover and discuss the sub-community of "Gay TikTok" as a place for digital storytelling, community building, and activism. Fast growing since the start of the pandemic, TikTok has become a place for folx to connect and view creators with similar interests. Based on an algorithm setting that promotes similar videos of interest, the LGBTQ+ community is building a strong place for community, reclamation, and activism in the digital sphere.
At Bloomsburg, we believe opportunity belongs to those who are ready to work for it and unafraid to do something great with it. Here, our onward is upward. Join us.
