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LGBTQIA+ History Month Event Forecast

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Jessica Keller
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Indigo Baloch
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chatham chapter.

(design by Chatham student Emma Engle, see more of her work at https://www.behance.net/mmngle)

October is LGBTQIA+ History Month, and Chatham will have plenty of chances for you to participate in and celebrate this month! Various departments and student organizations on campus have teamed up with Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance to pack the calendar with events on campus that are sure to provide some new knowledge, as well as fun times. Check them out!

 

Featured Events

LGBTQIA+ History Month Trivia

Think you know LGBTQIA+ history? Come test your expertise and learn something new while you compete for really great prizes. LOVE IS LOVE shirts (seen originally at the Hope Rally and around campus afterwards) will also be making a limited return, so come early to get your very own.

When: Friday, October 7th @ 5 pm

Where: Carriage House

The Stonewall Inn, where the gay rights movement began on June 28th, 1969.

(source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/27/gay-landmarks-then-and-now_n_4167768.html)

 

Mal Blum Concert

Chatham’s Ukulele Club and Music Club worked with our QSA to bring singer-songwriter Mal Blum (they/them) to our campus for an intimate performance. Best of all, the concert is free! The only request is that you come with a good attitude and ready to listen to some rad music. Find more information about Blum here: http://www.malblum.com/ 

When: Saturday, October 8th @ 7 pm

Where: Carriage House

Singer-songwriter Mal Blum (source: http://www.malblum.com/) 

 

A Road to Home Screening and Fundraiser for Proud Haven

A Road to Home is a documentary that follows a group of homeless LGBTQ youth. Many local organizations will be tabling with information before the event and Proud Haven (https://www.proudhaven.org/), an organization dedicated to creating a shelter for LGBTQ+ youth in Pittsburgh, will be collecting donations. There will be a panel discussion following the film. Find more information about the film here: http://aroadtohome.com/ Special thanks to Chatham alum Jason Lucarelli for helping oversee the planning of this event, as well as to everyone else at Chatham and the Pittsburgh community who was involved in planning and executing this event.

When: Friday, October 21st @ 7 pm (doors at 6 pm)

Where: Eddy Theatre

(source: https://www.proudhaven.org/)

 

Wait, There’s More!

 

LGBTQIA+ History Month Kickoff

Parkhurst will be decorating Anderson to kickoff LGBTQIA+ History Month, as well as serving food relating to the month (mostly rainbow desserts, yum!). Get your picture taken as part of the NO H8 campaign (http://www.noh8campaign.com/) which aims to promote marriage, gender, and human equality. Heather Black of Student Affairs has ordered gender pronoun pins designed by Chatham student Emma Engle that you can pick up at the kickoff! 

When: Monday, October 3rd @ 11 am – 1 pm

Where: Anderson Dining Hall

Designs for the gender pronouns pins that will be available at the LGBTQIA+ History Month Kickoff in Anderson (designed by Chatham student Emma Engle, see more of her work at https://www.behance.net/mmngle)

 

LGBT Movie Night: The Out List

The Out List aims to answer the question of what it is really like to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community while famous. A discussion about the film will follow, led by the QSA’s alumni advisor, Maria Shoop. A short weekly meeting of the QSA will occur right before the film is played. More information about the film can be found here: http://outlistproject.com/

When: Wednesday, October 5th @ 7pm

Where: Eddy Theatre

 

Coming Out Dialogues

October 11 is National Coming Out Day (woo!). Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance wants to provide a space for those in the LGBTQIA+ community as well as allies to discuss our experiences and thoughts about coming out. If you want, feel free to even come out at the event, for the first time or yet again! Find more information about this national day:

http://www.hrc.org/resources/national-coming-out-day

When: Tuesday, October 11th @ 7 pm

Where: Carriage House

 

Diversity in Careers Series: Coming Out in the Workplace

Coming out can be hard, and deciding to be out in the workplace can still be very difficult, and even a bit scary. Though there are more legal protections now for LGBTQIA+ employees, we still have a way to go, and people still have to sometimes choose between being authentically themselves or keeping the job they love. Career Development is sponsoring a lunch event with a host from the LGBTQ community to allow discussion around this complicated issue.

When: Thursday, October 13th @ 11:30pm

Where: Carriage House

 

Drag Queen Bingo

Drag queens and bingo, what more could you ask for? This event is sure to be a blast, and I feel like there is a good chance that there will be prizes to be won, so you don’t want to miss out on that.

When: Friday, October 21st @ 5 pm

Where: Carriage House

 

Events with Details TBA

 

Asexual Awareness Week (October 23-30)

Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance wants to help help those in the asexual community be more visible and debunk myths that surround asexual individuals. Right now, the QSA has been brainstorming ideas, such as a film screening, and have been contacting and discussing with individuals who would be willing to discuss their experiences as someone who is asexual or on the spectrum, as well as answer questions that people at Chatham may have about the asexual community. More information about this week can be found here: http://asexualawarenessweek.com/

 

Screening of The Imitation Game

Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance is working with the Science Department to host a screening of The Imitation Game, a film about the life of Alan Turing, gay mathematician and computer scientist, and highlighting his female colleague Joan Clarke, who both as part of a larger team helped end World War II with their work. A discussion is likely to follow the film.

Benedict Cumberbtach as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game (source: http://theimitationgamemovie.com/)

Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance meets every Wednesday at 7-8 pm in the Carriage House (except on LGBT Movie Nights which are held in Eddy Theatre, and in which a shorter meeting will occur before the film is shown).

Funding for the Trivia Night and Mal Blum Concert were provided by the Undergraduate Budget Committee. All events are supported by the Office of Student Affairs and Student Activities. Special thanks to Heather Black for working closely with Chatham’s Queer Straight Alliance to help many of these events become a reality, as well as Emma Engle for designing the gender pronoun pins and flyer for the month.

For more information about these events you can contact the Office of Student Affairs at osa@chatham.edu.

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Jessica Keller is a senior biochemistry major at Chatham University minoring in psychology and music. She is a culture writer for The Chatham Post. This summer, she started as a columnist for Queer PGH. Her poetry and prose have been featured in multiple editions of Chatham's Minor Bird literary magazine.
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Indigo Baloch is the HC Chatham Campus Correspondent. She is a junior at Chatham University double majoring in Creative Writing and Journalism and double minoring Graphic Design and an Asian Studies Certificate. Indigo is a writer and Editorial Assistant at Maniac Magazine and occasionally does book reviews for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She is also the Public Relations Director for The Mr. Roboto Project (a music venue in Pittsburgh) and creates their monthly newsletter. During her freshman and sophomore year, Indigo was the Editor-in-Chief of Chatham's student driven newsprint: Communique. Currently, on campus, Indigo is the Communications Coordinator for Minor Bird (Chatham's literary magazine), the Public Relations Director for Chatham's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, and a Staff Writer and Columnist for Communique. She has worked as a Fashion Editorial Intern for WHIRL Magazine, and has been a featured reader at Chatham's Undergraduate Reading Series and a featured writer in Minor Bird. She loves art, music, film, theater, writing, and traveling.