Welcome to Penn Class of 2017!
Today students around the world are finding out that they have been accepted to be a part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 2017! With each new class, new students come to add to the vibrancy and diversity of the LGBTQ community here at Penn. We would like all of them to know that Penn is a safe place to be whomever you want to be!
We wanted to share the freshmen experiences of the Class of 2016 in this video to let them know what is waiting for them here at Penn!
Welcome future class mates! And welcome future leaders!
We cannot wait to meet you!
QPenn Commences!
QPenn is an annual week-long celebration of LGBTQA culture at Penn: an inclusive pride event meant for EVERYONE. This year, we’re celebrating the various “shades” of identity within the LGBTQ and allied community with our theme: “50 SHADES OF GAY.” Members of the LGBTQ and allied community escape a single definition, coming together in various shapes, sizes and colors to form a unique group of individuals. Each “shade of gay” has a different connotation, definition, and meaning to everyone.
The festivities started off tonight with a poignant keynote address from the brilliant Janet Mock. Janet Mock is the former editor of People.com and is a transgender woman of color. She discussed the history of transgender activism as well as, contemporary voices in the transgender community. While most transgender representations in media solely focus on travesties committed on the transgender community, Janet Mock seeks to represent a transgender woman who has suceded in her life’s goal.. For more on Janet Mock and her activism, please visit her personal website here.
We hope to see everyone as this busy week continues. Come and celebrate what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ community.
| Check out our calendar of events!
*MONDAY MARCH 18* OUT IN THE WORKPLACE LOVE DOESNT HURT LAURENCE ANYWAYS FILM SCREENING *TUESDAY MARCH 19* ZISTORY: TRANS* HISTORY THEN AND NOW THIRTY NOTHING *WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20* THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF RIGHTS-BASED CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS *THURSDAY, MARCH 21* “REAL WOMEN”: BODY IMAGE, STEREOTYPES, AND MEDIA PRESSURE FREEDOM SEDER GALA AND GRADS AT TAP (UNDERGRADS WELCOME) *FRIDAY MARCH 22* HEALTHCARE CAREER MENTORSHIP EVENT SEX JEOPARDY QSA PRESENTS… UNLEASH YOUR DRAG-ON (ANNUAL DRAG SHOW) *SATURDAY MARCH 23* NEEDING IT: PERFORMANCE IN THE QUEER COMMUNITY WORKSHOP THE CHILDREN’S HOUR GREAT GATSBY PARTY *SUNDAY MARCH 24* PRIDE GAMES PASSING THE TORCH: A CLOSING/OPENING CEREMONY |
Valentine’s Day: Love is Love
On February 14th, Lambda Alliance collaborated with the Penn Democrats and the Penn Republicans to create a bi-partisan marriage equality event. We all came together to prove that marriage equality is a human rights issue that should not divide party lines.
On Valentine’s Day the iconic Love statue that resides between the diverging paths of Locust Walk was transformed. Adorned with colored paper, the typically red statue was turned into a vibrant rainbow. As the day went on, students, faculty, and casual tourists took pictures in front of the statue and proclaimed that “Love is Love.”
Thank you to everyone who came out! Photos can be found on our facebook page.
Tax Equalization
This news is a few months old, but still very important! Penn will now provide tax assistance to same-sex couples affected by the lack of federal recognition for same-sex relationships!
Read the announcement here, as well as the Daily Pennsylvanian article providing further explanation!
The Website’s Back! And Other Exciting Updates
We now once again have a functioning website that will be updated on a consistent basis! At least whenever there’s news to share.
More importantly, great things have been happening at Penn this semester. After years of hard work by the LGBT Center, Lambda, and many dedicated individuals, the university expanded transgender health benefits to faculty and staff. Our Chair, Hugh, sent out a personal note in the newsletter after it happened. Check it out!
Hello all -After years of work by Lambda, the LGBT Center, faculty, and staff, the University has extended trans health benefits to faculty and staff. This is wonderful news for those of us who have been invested in the process, and I want to thank the University as well as the LGBT community as a whole for its commitment to an atmosphere of acceptance and affirmation. A special thanks goes to Victor Galli and Jake Tolan for their dedication to this project.
Hugh Hamilton
Awesome! Another great thing that happened was Penn’s annual LGBT celebration week – QPenn! With the theme of DO ASK, DO TELL, QPenn 2012 featured many wonderful events by our constituent groups, an amazing supplement in the Daily Pennsylvanian, and a fantastic speech by keynote speaker Alan Cumming. He even tweeted about us afterwards!
The semester may be winding down (and finals are rapidly approaching), but there are still many more events happening on campus, including tonight’s Lambda GBM which will cover IvyQ and QPenn chair elections.
Stay tuned!
The website is coming along
We are in the process of rebuilding our website. Keep checking back for improvements and more news and resources!
