Author: Nick Nam
Last Monday Oxy students and faculty listened to a panel discuss the status of issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT). It was the second event in the Occidental Queer Symposium, a year-long effort to bring queer programing to the college. The meeting took place in the Salsbury-Young Room and was moderated by critical theory and social justice (CTSJ) Professor Heather Lukes, whose classes focus mainly on queer theory and LGBT issues.
“I think the event went very well,” said Lukes. “A number of students stated that they were really happy to see this kind of queer programing at Oxy and expressed a desire for more such social-justice-themed events around issues of sexuality and gender.”
The panel was comprised of advocates involved with organizations in the Los Angeles area that work toward addressing the inequality faced by the LGBT community. The speakers were Thomas DeSimone of Lavendar Los Angeles and Roots of Equality, Miguel Torce of The Wall and Las Memorias, Kerry Chaplan of California Faith Tree, Gail Rolf of Project 10 and Michael Ferrera of Lifeworks and The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Centre.
“I thought the speakers came from an interesting mix of organizations and addressed some important topics,” said Laura Mohler (junior), a student in Lukes’ Queer L.A. class.
Most of the speakers focused on the Los Angeles’ LGBT rights struggle, claiming that even with its sprawl and size, a large number of organizations are working to improve rights for the gay community in the city.
“L.A. is where a lot of things happen. New York is where it is theorized, San Francisco is where the theory is massaged and L.A. is where action occurs,” said Ferrera, whose organization provides mentoring opportunities for LGBT youth.
Much of the night’s focus was on the effects of Proposition 8 on LGBT rights in California. DeSimone in particular spoke about how his organization has responded to the year-old gay marriage ban. The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Centre organized and sponsored a rally of 500 people that gained publicity on a local Los Angeles news channel.
Torces, who previously worked with the mentally ill and substance abuse victims, told the audience how the passing of Prop 8 had inspired him to move to the LGBT rights cause. He now focuses on HIV/AIDS awareness.Professor Lukes, who joined the Oxy faculty last Fall from New York University, was hired in an effort to expand the queer theory emphasis in the CTSJ department, according to Professor Jeffrey Tobin, who was the head of the search committee. In addition to teaching classes and putting together this event, Lukes has worked to plan two more events this year centered around LGBT issues, both focused on the queer music scene in L.A.
“I would be very interested in attending more events like this on campus,” said Mohler. “I think with the issue of gay marriage getting a lot of attention politically, it gives people interested in queer rights and the equality movement [the chance] to address problems within our queer community.”
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