Posted June 2022

Pride Month is a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, but it is also an opportunity to learn, start a conversation, or show your support. In honor of Pride Month, we’ve put together a list of events and resources available to Boston University’s alumni and friends.

Events open to Alumni/Community

2022 BU Pride Film Festival: Queer Desire in the 1990s and Early Aughts

All screenings begin at 6pm; end times will vary
Please join us for the 2nd annual BU Pride Film Festival! This in-person festival focuses on three acclaimed independent films depicting multiple facets of queer being and desire. Each screening will include a brief welcome & introduction, and an invitation for audience members to participate in a post-film conversation. There will also be free refreshments for everyone to enjoy at each screening!

• June 14th, CAS Room 235: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
• June 20th, CILSE Colloquium Room: Chasing Amy
• June 27th, CILSE Colloquium Room: Go Fish

This series is open to the entire BU community; RSVP for one or more date here.

Trans and Nonbinary Experiences in Higher Education: Exploring Heart-Centered Practice Through Storytelling

Wednesday, June 15th, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Join two powerhouse higher education colleagues—Dr. Van Bailey (they/he) & Jesse Beal (they/them)—in an engaging dialogue with each other. They will discuss their work in building and supporting LGBTQIA+ campus communities, working in identity-based spaces while holding the same identities they serve, origin stories, sustaining themselves, and their collective experiences working in higher education. The last half hour, we will open it up for the audience to ask questions of the presenters too. Through Dr. Van Bailey and Jesse Beal’s storytelling and discussion with each other, those in attendance will learn how to create more equitable and navigable spaces for trans and nonbinary staff, faculty, and students at BU. Sponsored by the LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff.

Asexual and Aromantic Allyship in Queer Communities

Tuesday, June 21st, 12:00 – 1:30pm
Join New England Aces for an interactive workshop discussing the oft-forgotten A in the LGBTQIA+ acronym! Learn about asexual and aromantic experiences and how other queer folx can become more inclusive of these experiences in our work and celebrations. This event is open to all members of the BU community.

Queering Race & Identity at BU – Part 2*

Wednesday, June 22nd, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Back by demand, we are having a part two of our previous community discussion about the kind of community we want to build at BU, what it means for the LGBTQIA+ Center to center race and antiracism in the work of the Center, as well as how we show up and the role our identities play. Through a model of talking and healing circles, Dr. Jen Self and James Layman will lead us in a second two-hour interactive discussion about the type of LGBTQIA+ campus community we want to build at BU. BU faculty and staff who didn’t participate previously are invited to join us for part two. Sponsored by the LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff.
Register for the Zoom by emailing lgbtqia@bu.edu.

Forever Young: 2022 Pride Prom

Thursday, June 30th, 6:30 – 9:00pm
Estragon Tapas Bar (700 Harrison Ave)
Come live your prom dreams with the inaugural 2022 Pride Prom! Still have your prom garb? Need an excuse to wear that fire outfit and be seen? We want to see you! Open to Boston University faculty and staff, the Pride Prom will be a relaxed atmosphere with food, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and music as we close out Pride Month 2022.
RSVP here.

Highlighted events around Boston

Annual Trans Resistance March & Festival for Black Trans Lives

Saturday, June 25th, 12:00pm – 5:00pm
On June 25, 2022, Trans Resistance MA will hold their third annual March & Festival for Black Trans Lives. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. They will meet at 2400 Washington Ave in Boston (Nubian Square) and march from Nubian Square to Franklin Park Playstead. At Franklin Park, they will hold a vigil and festival, with events and offerings including:

• Tabling by LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community organizations​
• Performances by trans and queer artists
• Food trucks and portable restrooms

Find more information here.

Webinars on demand

Ask me to dance: LGBTQIA+ leaders discuss inclusion
As Vernā Myers aptly said, “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” Listen to our panel of LGBTQIA+ leaders for a conversation about inclusion and learn how they are working to build cultures of belonging for their clients and at their organizations. Watch here.

Why Pronouns Matter with Dr. Carl Streed

Marriage equality: Where we’ve come from and what’s next for LGBTQ equality
Marking the anniversary of the landmark Obergefell vs. Hodges Supreme Court decision, join a BU LAW panel discussion to learn about the implications of the case and its impact today. Hear from alumni and experts as they share how the case can be traced back to law student activism at Boston University in the 1970s, critical SCOTUS decisions about LGBTQ+ rights since Obergefell (including the recent Title VII cases won on June 15), and what’s next in securing LGBTQ+ rights in America. Watch here.

TV’s Pose and the impact of Black and Latinx LGBTQ stories
Steven Canals, the co-creator and executive producer of the FX series Pose, COM professors Roy Grundmann, and Maura Smith discuss the history, impact, and importance of Black and Latinx LGBTQ representation in film and television. Introduced by Dean Mariette DiChristina. Co-sponsored by COM’s Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Watch here.

Initiatives at Boston University

The BU Out List
A university-wide Out List connects and makes visible the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community that resides at BU. Inspired by the success of the current Boston University Medical Campus OUT and Ally List, this list is a community-building tool accessible to all LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, and students and the larger university community.

Center for Gender Sexuality and Activism
The Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism (CGSA) at Boston University is a resource center that strives to give voice to institutionally marginalized groups through an intersectional approach to activism and education.

BUSM Service PRIDE
BUSM Service PRIDE’s vision is to become the first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) specific service learning group at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). Service PRIDE creates an opportunity for BUSM medical students to mentor and build lasting relationships with LGBTQ adolescents, an often forgotten and vulnerable population in the LGBTQ community.

Boston University Medical Campus OUT & Ally List
This is a public list of clinicians, faculty, practitioners, researchers, staff, students, and trainees across BUMC and BMC who identify as LGBTQ+ or as allies for the LGBTQ+ community. The primary mission of the OUT & Ally List is to serve as a resource for BUMC LGBTQ+ students seeking mentorship, guidance, or academic and non-academic support. Additionally, the List enables BUMC community members to build connections and network around LGBTQ+ issues more broadly.

Eric & Neil Stine-Markman Scholarship Fund (BU School of Law)
A new BU LAW scholarship funded by Eric Stine (’97) and his husband, inspired by school’s longstanding commitment to diversity, to ensure that LGBTQIA+ students have the financial support they need to attend law school.

Queer Activist Collective
The Queer Activist Collective (“Q”) is Boston University’s largest LGBTQ+ student organization dedicated to ensuring the awareness, visibility, and full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. They are committed to creating programming that is uplifting and affirming for all LGBTQ+ community members.

News and Articles

• New Initiative Aims to Provide Free Gender-Affirming Products to Students
• BU’s First-Ever Lavender Ceremony Celebrates LGBTQ+ Graduates
• Kori Pacyniak and the Women Priests Push for Changes in the Church
• BU Today’s My Coming Out Story series
• POV: Why I’m Boycotting Boston Pride
• Explaining the Latest Texas Anti-Transgender Directive
• When It Comes to LGBTQ+ Support, BU Athletics Soars
• Celebrate Pride at These Events around Boston
• LGBTQ Figures, from Lincoln to Mr. Sulu
• ​​Is Science Too Straight? LGBTQ+ issues in STEM diversity
• Here’s What the Different LGBTQIA+ Flags Represent

Additional resources

• The LGBTQIA+ Network on BU Connects for alumni, students, faculty, and staff to connect professionally with others who identify as LGBTQIA+ or as allies.
• Queer Activist Collective: queer@bu.edu
• LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff: lgbtqia@bu.edu
• LGBTQIA+ Faculty & Staff Community Network: LGBTQIA-FSN-BOARD@bu.edu