Each October, the WFU LGBTQ+ Center recognizes and celebrates Queer History Month (QHM). For us, QHM reflects upon and learns from the past while also uplifting the idea that we are constantly creating our own histories as individuals, collectives, and communities. Plus, June, which is celebrated as Pride month, is a tough time to come together in community since it is during the summer!
Queer History Month 2022
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Register here for the Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth webinar.
Monday, October 17, 2022
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joanna Schwartz
Hosted by the School of Business
3:30 pm | Broyhill Auditorium, Farrell Hall
On Monday, October 17, at 3:30pm, the School of Business in partnership with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion will host Dr. Joanna Schwartz (she/her/hers), a speaker, researcher, and consultant in marketing and inclusion, as our keynote speaker in honor of LGBTQ History Month. This will take place in Farrell Hall in Broyhill Auditorium.
Covering topics such as LGBTQ marketing, targeting, intersectionality, and political expression, this speaker event will provide a supportive and informative space for all Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff. A closing reception will follow.
Making Queer Histories Accessible
Hosted by Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success (CLASS) and Information Systems
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm | Waker Space
This is a skill-building workshop and collective working session to think through how to make archives and projects that center the stories and histories of queer people accessible, i.e. how to write good alt text and image descriptions, how to write transcripts for audio content, and how to create subtitles or captions for video content.
Queer Bible Study
Hosted by Wake Forest Baptist Church
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm | Davis Chapel
The purpose of this program is to highlight queer people of faith. To emphasize that you can be queer and a Christian. We will be telling stories of influential queer people of faith like Pauli murray, rev. Mychal judge (saint of 9/11), churches that performed same sex marriages and supported people during the aids epidemic.
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
DEAC Allies: Skill Development
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
10:00 am – 12:00 pm | Virtual
Skill Development and Practice is the third workshop in the core trio and is primarily focused on providing space for D.E.A.C. Allies participants to put their knowledge into practice. This highly interactive workshop will include opportunities for reflection, dialogue, practice, and more. Register on Workday Learning.
GendEx: Identity Space
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center
GendEx is a space that invites nonbinary, trans, and other gender exploring folks to come together in a supportive and affirming community where we will explore gender and its many impacts and implications on lived experience. RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
Student Government is hosting a D&I Panel with new affinity center directors Monique Gore, Kayla Lisenby-Denson (interim Director), and Shelley Sizemore. This panel is to introduce our new directors and get to know them, their centers, and their goals. The event is open to all.
Queer History Month 2021
Monday, October 4, 2021
Queer Philology: A Proculloquium Classicum by Shane Butler
Hosted by the Department of Classics
3:30 pm | Tribble Hall A303 and on Zoom
This lecture examines the relationship between philology, the historic core of Classics itself, and queerness. One aspect of this relationship is, surely, what we might call the philology of queerness: that is to say, the development of delicate methods and of finely tuned critical ears in order to “detect” queer meaning in texts, albeit often between the lines, beneath the surface, or in the margins. But a more ambitious investigation reveals philology and queerness themselves to be kindred spirits, both predicated on a final refusal of meaning to reveal itself in any simple, straightforward, unambiguous way. If criticism is, etymologically, a “choice” between this or that reading, then the broader philological practices leading to that (often deferred) choice instead foreground indeterminacy itself. Taking a few examples from the Miscellanies of Renaissance humanist and philologist Angelo Poliziano and a few more from A. E. Housman a century ago, interspersed with reminiscences of my own classical education and queer activism, Prof. Butler shall explore how this foregrounding works and why it might matter.
Queer History Month Opening Reception
Hosted by Dean Adam Goldstein and Family and the LGBTQ+ Center
5:30 – 7:30 pm | Reynolda Hall Patio (outside the Green Room)
Members of our #LGBTQatWFU family are invited by Dean Adam Goldstein and his family to gather together in community and in celebration of Queer History Month. Students, faculty, and staff are welcome; heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
LGBTQ+ Trivia Night with OutLaw and QWS
Hosted by OutLaw (WFU School of Law) and Queer Winston Salem
7:00 pm | Joymongers Barrell Hall
Ready to test your knowledge? Join OutLaw and Queer Winston Salem for a fun, free opportunity to test your knowledge of all things LGBTQ+! Categories include US and World Queer History, Queer TV, Movies, and Anthems, and general Queer culture – so grab some friends and get ready to compete!
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Business strategies in fulfilling our mission to the LGBTQ community: A conversation with Novant Health
Hosted by the WFU School of Business
5:00 – 6:00 pm | Broyhill Auditorium, Farrell Hall
Join the WFUSB for an event with representatives from Novant Health as they discuss how they’ve been working to create and implement business strategies to improve the patient care of the LGBTQ community.
Monday, October 11, 2021
National Coming Out Day Community Celebration
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
2:30 – 5:00 pm | Manchester Plaza (Benson 3rd Floor Rotunda if raining)
All are invited to celebrate with us on National Coming Out Day! We’ll have a NCOD photo booth, snacks and activities, and plenty of giveaways — including our brand new LGBTQ+ Center beanies! Plan to be there at 4:30 to be a part of our community photo, complete with rainbow headgear!
Queer Intimacy: LGBTQ+ Sex Education & Deconstructing Shame
Hosted by the Riotous Black Girl Society and the Intersectional Feminist Collective, sponsored by the LGBTQ+ Center and Women’s Center
7:00 pm | SJI Lounge (Kitchen)
Learn what it means to define safe queer sex in terms of our bodies and our mental wellness. In this Socratic session, we are diving deep into the mechanics of sexual safety and thinking about what it means to be queer sex-positive. As shame continues to mark our communities and relationships how do we deconstruct it for ourselves and others in the moments before we touch? Join this special event to find out.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
D.E.A.C. Allies: LGBTQ+ 101
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
9:30 – 11:00 am | Zoom
D.E.A.C. (Developing Empowering and Affirming Communities) Allies is a workshop series designed to build participants’ knowledge and skills through a scaffolded learning approach. Workshops are designed to deepen knowledge around topics of sexual orientation and gender, and to equip participants with skills for building intentionally inclusive communities that welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. LGBTQ 101 is the first workshop in the core trio and offers a general introduction into the LGBTQ+ community, including expanding and questioning assumptions, discussing terminology, and analyzing the experiences of LGBTQ+ people within our communities.
My Shelf to Yours: Queer History Month Edition
Hosted by the Intercultural Center
12:00 pm | Intercultural Center (Benson 346)
This event allows individuals to select a book by a Queer identified author. This carefully curated collection will feature a wide range of genres.
Dismantling the Inherent Privilege of Self Care
Hosted by the WFU Wellbeing Collaborative and the Office of Wellbeing, with sponsorship from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Slavery, Race, and Memory Project
1:00 – 4:30 pm | Zoom
The current understanding and practice of mainstream self-care is rooted in privilege, capitalism, and colonialism. Self-care is often presented as an individualistic approach to supporting one person’s mental health. Self-care alone fails to acknowledge a) the overlapping systems of oppression that affect well-being and b) the role of community care. Collectively, we will dismantle self-care through exploration of anti-oppression framework(s), Trauma Stewardship, The Healing Justice Framework, and Community Cultural Wealth.
Classics Beyond Whiteness Reads Matt Ortile on “Rice Queens, Dairy Queens”
Hosted by the Department of Classics
4:00 pm | Tribble A303 and on Zoom
What do Greek statues have to do with underwear models? And what do they both have to do with racism? Author and BuzzFeed Philippines founder Matt Ortile explores the intersections and his own sense of who’s hot in a chapter of his recent book, “The Groom Will Keep His Name: And Other Vows I’ve Made About Race, Resistance, and Romance.” Meredith Talusan has called the book “a daring brown and queer manifesto that proclaims to everyone making our way in the world: never bow to the false gods of whiteness and normalcy” — and in this one-shot reading group, we’ll find out how those false gods sometimes look like actual Greek and Roman ones.
Thursday, October 14, 2021
D.E.A.C. Allies Special Topics: Queer + Latinx
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
2:00 – 3:00 pm | Zoom
D.E.A.C. (Developing Empowering and Affirming Communities) Allies is a workshop series designed to build participants’ knowledge and skills through a scaffolded learning approach. Workshops are designed to deepen knowledge around topics of sexual orientation and gender, and to equip participants with skills for building intentionally inclusive communities that welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. This DEAC Allies special topic session will focus on the intersections of LGBTQ+ and Latinx identities and experiences.
Change Agents Information Session
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
4:00 – 5:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center (Benson 311)
The LGBTQ+ Center is excited to bring back our signature student leadership development program, the Change Agents, for 2022! Change Agents serve as ambassadors for the LGBTQ+ Center, develop and implement campus and community change-making projects, and learn together in a supportive community that centers and celebrates LGBTQ+ identities. Drop in to learn more about the Change Agent program, connect with previous classes of Change Agents, and ask any questions you may have about the program.
Sex Week 2021: Consent and Resource Fair
Hosted by the Office of Wellbeing, Women’s Center, LGBTQ+ Center, Safe Office, and PREPARE
3:00 – 5:00 pm | Manchester Plaza
Drop by the quad to learn about different organizations and resources available on campus, as well as participate in fun activities related to consent, boundaries, and more.
Friday, October 15, 2021
Art and Activism as Radical Collaboration: Micah Bazant’s Reimagined Dimensions of Trans Justice
Hosted by the Jewish Studies Program, the LGBTQ+ Center, the Art Department, and Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies
4:30 pm | Annenberg Forum, Carswell Hall Room 111
Micah Bazant will present on their work of the past two decades, collaborating with movements for queer and trans liberation and racial and disability justice to reimagine the world. In conversation with Professor Mir Yarfitz, Bazant will inspire students about the crucial role of art in social change, and how we can ethically collaborate, build solidarity, and make cultural reparations. Bazant will share visual case studies from successful campaigns that have helped win material change, build power, and transform the dominant narratives about marginalized communities.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Reimagining the Queer Experience through Reynolda’s Collection
Hosted by Reynolda, WFU Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the LGBTQ+ Center
3:00 – 4:30 pm | Reynolda House Museum of American Art
LGBTQ+ American artists in the twentieth century created lasting impacts within art circles and the wider queer communities. In dialogue with Curator Allison Slaby, artist and aspiring museum professional Maggie Trumpower will examine works by queer artists in Reynolda’s permanent collection. Together they will examine subjects, symbolism, and connections between artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. The event is open to the public and free with advanced registration.
Monday, October 18, 2021
LGBTQ+ Abroad
Hosted by the Center for Global Programs and Studies
3:00 – 4:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center (Benson 311)
Did you know more than 80% of WFU study abroad during their undergraduate studies? Learning abroad provides unique opportunities for personal growth and cultural competency development, as well as creating memories that will last for life! Interested in studying abroad but have concerns related to your experience as an LGBTQ+ students? Have general questions you would like to talk through with a knowledgeable advisor? Not sure if study abroad is for you? Drop by the LGBTQ+ Center to connect with Study Abroad Advisors from the Center for Global Programs and Studies to learn about study abroad options, ask questions, and get resources for curating your study abroad experience.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
D.E.A.C. Allies: The Gender Binary and Beyond
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
9:30 – 11:00 am | Zoom
D.E.A.C. (Developing Empowering and Affirming Communities) Allies is a workshop series designed to build participants’ knowledge and skills through a scaffolded learning approach. Workshops are designed to deepen knowledge around topics of sexual orientation and gender, and to equip participants with skills for building intentionally inclusive communities that welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The Gender Binary and Beyond is the second workshop in the core trio and centers on gender, including gender identity, gender expression, and analyzing the myriad ways individuals may experience gender. Participants will develop skills for ensuring spaces and practices are inclusive for people of all genders.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Rainbow Rendezvous: Get ‘Inked’
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
3:30 – 5:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center (Benson 311)
Rainbow Rendezvous is our weekly casual student-led and student-centered drop-in space, with a new activity, craft, conversation topic, or all of the above and more happening each week! This week Gabby and Jack are hosting a temporary tattoo party — so drop by the LGBTQ+ Center on Thursday to get some fresh [temporary] ink with tons of designs available!
Friday, October 22, 2021
WFQ Lunch
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Davis Field, Tent B (closest to Scales)
Change Agents Information Session
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
1:00 – 2:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center
The LGBTQ+ Center is excited to bring back our signature student leadership development program, the Change Agents, for 2022! Change Agents serve as ambassadors for the LGBTQ+ Center, develop and implement campus and community change-making projects, and learn together in a supportive community that centers and celebrates LGBTQ+ identities. Drop in to learn more about the Change Agent program, connect with previous classes of Change Agents, and ask any questions you may have about the program.
Soul Sessions: Creative Expression in Community
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
7:00 pm | Zick’s Underground
Calling all writers, singers, artists, dancers, and more — share your craft at Soul Sessions, a showcase of creative expression during Queer History Month as an homage to the creative members of the LGBTQ+ community that came before us. LGBTQ+ identities and experiences will be centered, but you do not have to identify as LGBTQ+ to participate, and any art form is welcomed. All are invited to be in supportive community and witness the gifts shared. Snacks will be served.
Monday, October 25, 2021
iLab Lunch & Learn: “There’s Levels to This” (Re)Engaging Queer and Trans* Students of Color
Hosted by the Intercultural Center
12:00 pm | Zoom
Within this session we will grapple with how QTPOC students navigate their minoritized sexual, gender, and racial identities within collegiate environments and how our campuses can best engage these students.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Trans Dudes with Lady Cancer Film Screening + Panel
Hosted by the Women’s Center, Student Health Service, and LGBTQ+ Center
6:00 – 7:30 pm | Zoom, WFU students, faculty, and staff invited to watch in ZSR Auditorium
Trans Dudes with Lady Cancer is a short, award-winning documentary that follows the experiences of two transgender men who have been diagnosed with cancers traditionally understood to impact women – breast cancer and cervical cancer. The film explores their experiences and discusses the challenges to inclusion and equitable access many LGBTQ+ patients face when accessing the health care system. After the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring the filmmakers and a local physician who is the Gender Affirming Program Director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, moderated by WFU’s own faculty in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Dr. Kristina Gupta.
Participants may view and participate in the entire event from their preferred location, or, WFU students, faculty, and staff are invited to gather together to screen the event in the ZSR Auditorium. Light refreshments will be provided.
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
D.E.A.C. Allies: Skill Development + Practice
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
9:00 – 11:00 am | Zoom
D.E.A.C. (Developing Empowering and Affirming Communities) Allies is a workshop series designed to build participants’ knowledge and skills through a scaffolded learning approach. Workshops are designed to deepen knowledge around topics of sexual orientation and gender, and to equip participants with skills for building intentionally inclusive communities that welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Skill Development and Practice is the third workshop in the core trio and is primarily focused on providing space for D.E.A.C. Allies to put their knowledge into practice. This highly interactive workshop will include opportunities for reflection, dialogue, practice, and more.
Rainbow Rendezvous: DIY Cupcake Decorating
Hosted by the LGBTQ+ Center
4:30 – 6:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center (Benson 311)
Friday, October 29, 2021
Crochet Your Own LG(Bee)Ts
Hosted by the Fiber Arts Club
6:00 pm | LGBTQ+ Center (Benson 311)
Come join us as we learn to crochet LG(bee)T pride bees! No experience is necessary and all supplies will be free. If you do not know how to crochet, we will spend the first few minutes of the meeting explaining how to crochet and the basic stitches you will need for this project. All are welcome to join.
The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
Directed by Brook Davis, Hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance
7:30 pm | Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
In the early 1980s, one man rose up and helped lead an army to fight an ignored plague. Larry Kramer’s largely-autobiographical play, The Normal Heart, explores the politics, fear, anger, and frustration he experienced during the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York. This year, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary of the first cases of the disease later to be known as AIDS. Kramer’s The Normal Heart is a profound, tragic history lesson for audience members too young to remember this dark time in America, as well as those old enough to see the parallels between then and now. Tickets will be available online at theatre.wfu.edu and at the box office (336-758-5295) starting October 12.
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Festival on the Quad
Hosted as part of Homecoming 2021
9:00 am – 12:00 pm | Hearn Plaza
Festival on the Quad is one of our long-standing traditions at Homecoming, and it is a festive event for everyone in the Wake Forest community–alumni, faculty, staff, friends, and family members. The LGBTQ+ Center will have a table and invites all members of our community, especially alumni of our #LGBTQatWFU family, to drop by to connect, reminisce, learn about our 10th anniversary celebration in the spring, and more!
The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
Directed by Brook Davis, Hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance
7:30 pm | Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
In the early 1980s, one man rose up and helped lead an army to fight an ignored plague. Larry Kramer’s largely-autobiographical play, The Normal Heart, explores the politics, fear, anger, and frustration he experienced during the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York. This year, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary of the first cases of the disease later to be known as AIDS. Kramer’s The Normal Heart is a profound, tragic history lesson for audience members too young to remember this dark time in America, as well as those old enough to see the parallels between then and now. Tickets will be available online at theatre.wfu.edu and at the box office (336-758-5295) starting October 12.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
Directed by Brook Davis, Hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance
2:00 pm | Tedford Stage, Scales Fine Arts Center
In the early 1980s, one man rose up and helped lead an army to fight an ignored plague. Larry Kramer’s largely-autobiographical play, The Normal Heart, explores the politics, fear, anger, and frustration he experienced during the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York. This year, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary of the first cases of the disease later to be known as AIDS. Kramer’s The Normal Heart is a profound, tragic history lesson for audience members too young to remember this dark time in America, as well as those old enough to see the parallels between then and now. Tickets will be available online at theatre.wfu.edu and at the box office (336-758-5295) starting October 12.
Throughout the Semester
LGBTQ+ in STEM Issues and Advocacy
Hosted by Professor of Engineering Dr. Patricia Clayton
Tuesdays, 3:30 – 4:30 pm | Wake Downtown Room 1609
Interested in learning more about research on the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in STEM? Want to incorporate this scholarly work into your advocacy for inclusive learning and work environments? Join the LGBTQ+ in STEM reading group. Students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds and identities are welcome–no previous experience required. The group meets weekly; in the spring, meetings will be held on the Reynolda campus.
In, Out, and In-Between
Hosted by the Safe Office and the University Counseling Center
Mondays, 2:00 pm | Zoom
Join trained mental health professionals for a weekly group counseling experience created and facilitated for queer and transgender students. Email the facilitators, Bethany Miller [they/them] (millerb@wfu.edu) and Joshua Ziesel [he/him] (zieseljp@wfu.edu), with questions or to receive meeting information.
Means of Identification: New Acquisitions to the WFU Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art
Hosted by the Hanes Art Gallery
M-F, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Saturday 1:00 – 5:00 pm | Hanes Art Gallery, Scales Fine Arts Center
Throughout the Fall Semester (August 23-December 10) the Hanes Gallery will be showing the exhibition “Means of Identification: New Acquisitions to the WFU Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art.” This body of work selected by the Student Union Art Acquisition Committee, includes work by nine artists which explore themes of identity and the exploration of gender, race, sexuality, nationality and heritage. Learn more.
Queer History Month 2020
