Support LGBT Studies on March 16th.
In the Program in LGBT Studies, we envision and work collaboratively to create a world where every member of every LGBTQ+ community has the freedom to live their truth—with dignity, respect, and equal protection. Our courses explore queer and trans histories, theories of sex and gender, and the organization of social relations and kinship structures. Students investigate the lives, politics, and creative work of LGBTQ+ individuals and groups, while coming to an understanding of themselves as sexual and social agents.
We look back with pride on our 30 years as an academic program, celebrating the many contributions Cornellians have made to the discipline of LGBT Studies. In the fall of 2022, students in the Intro to LGBT Studies course created multimedia projects exploring various aspects of Cornell’s queer history (e.g., the nation’s second homophile league, early AIDS activism, the protest at Morrie’s Bar for equal accommodation, and the establishment of the Loving House residence, to name only a few). The Cornell Chronicle ran a feature news story on the projects.
While we rejoice in our accomplishments, we are aware of the great and urgent work that lies ahead. This past year has been marked by renewed attacks against our communities, and we sponsored several events to raise awareness and strategize solutions for liberation. In October 2022, we staged a teach-in titled “Our Bodies, Their Laws: The Impact of Dobbs v Jackson on LGBTQ+ communities,” where we discussed the need for intersectional approaches to human rights. The following month, we held a vigil in response to the massacre at Club Q, where on November 20, 2022, a deranged gunman murdered five people and wounded 17 others at a Colorado bar. It is no coincidence that the Club Q massacre happened on Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors the memory of lives lost in acts violence. 2021 was the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States, with more than 45 reported murders. At the vigil, remarks concluded with the words of Marsha P. Johnson, the Black transgender activist, Stonewall veteran, and co-founder of STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), whose 1992 murder has never been solved: “How many years [will it take] people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race... No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
Scholarly engagement with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, intersex, non-binary, and two-spirit cultures remains more relevant than ever. The faculty and staff of LGBT Studies are committed to expanding the visibility and impact of our program on campus and across our communities. Please help us in our mission on Giving Day. Your gift will support our programming, research activities, and community-engagement goals.
In addition to a stellar line-up of courses, speakers, and presentations, we have several new initiatives we would love to fund. Thank you for your gift to the Program in LGBT Studies!
In honor of our 30th anniversary, we invite you to contribute:
- $30: Purchase a rainbow graduation stole for a student earning an LGBT Minor
- $50: Fund LGBT Graduate Student Research and Professional Development
- $100: Support the LGBT Speaker and Event Series
- $300: Donate to the 30th Anniversary Fund
- $: Choose your own amount. Every gift helps us.
