Office of LGBTQ Student Life

How Much Does It Cost To Be Proud?

Pride is coming and the parades are always free, but if you want to party, it’s going to cost you.

uchicagoadmissions:

Morning sky in the Windy City

fuckyeahfeminists:

The science museum: a fundie’s worst nightmare.

TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

janetmock:

elsabordelamorydeldolor:

TSQ is a new interdisciplinary academic journal that will change the way the world thinks about transgender issues.

Folks, I’m proud to be on the editorial board of this journal, please support this project and share with your networks.  

Yes! We need more for us, created by us publications. 

buzzfeedlgbt:

Brittney Griner Speaks The Truth

Brittney Griner recently became the WNBA’s #1 draft pick, and she also became the first openly gay athlete to sign with Nike. But after NBA star Jason Collins came out publicly and was heralded by many as the first “major out athlete,” Griner’s moment in the spotlight was, at least temporarily, eclipsed. In a powerful essay written for the Sunday New York Times, Brittney finally got the chance to share her story.

(via mission-equality)

wertheyouth:

Sign this petition because media representation matters

Read this now: "We Won A Thing! Marriage Equality Comes To Minnesota"

gaywrites:

As the country rejoices over the latest marriage equality victory, this one in Minnesota, it’s worth reflecting once more on how laws like this affect real families. This Autostraddle piece about marriage equality in Minnesota has been making the rounds online in the last few days, and with good reason.

Forgive the long excerpt, but hopefully you’ll agree that it’s worthwhile:

I was there with my two children and friends and their children. Luisa was out of the country and could not be with us and I missed her so much when it was announced that the bill had passed. I would have loved to have grabbed her and kissed her because 20 years is a very long time to live as a couple “not quite equal” to others. Instead, I was with my son who wrapped his arms around me, looked up into my face and said, “It passed! We won!”

I was already in tears.

Happy, sad or angry – my son cannot stand to see me cry. As we held onto each other in that sea of people, he just kept looking at me and saying, “You’re going to get married, mama. You’re going to get married.” I nodded and laughed as I continued to cry, “Yeah, I’m going to get married.” Then, he held my hands and said, “Promise me you’ll get married as soon as you can, before they can take it away.”

And that is the reality of the world in which he has lived – that rights are bestowed by higher powers but can just as easily be taken back.

I looked around me… at the woman in her fifties standing alone smiling and crying, at the elderly couple holding hands who could not stop sobbing, at the couple who had a sign proclaiming their 25 years together and then to all the very young activists who shed no tears, only laughed and cheered.

For those of us who are older, legal recognition of our relationships seemed unfathomable for most of our lives. For those young activists who were all smiles, it has always seemed inevitable. There is no doubt that this was a political victory but, for many of us, it was so much more personal than that.

No words. 

breakthecitysky:

Here is the thing I can’t stop thinking about with what’s happened here in Minnesota over the course of the past week: the display of support in the Twin Cities was staggering.  The level of f*cks not given to those who might be offended by this acknowledgement of equal rights under the law was amazing.

But mostly, mostly.  I think about a queer kid, riding in the back of her parents’ car seeing the city lit up like this.  Maybe she hasn’t come out yet, maybe she’s been bullied, at home, at school, for being who she is.  I can only imagine what seeing this would mean.  And then I get teary and proud all over again.  

Way to go, Minnesota.  Who’s next?

(via pflagmom)

Pentagon formally recognizes transgender veteran

gaywrites:

Earlier this month, the Pentagon quietly made history when it acknowledged a transgender veteran’s changed gender marker and updated records appropriately.

This is thought to be the first time the Department of Defense has recognized a gender transition for anyone affiliated with the armed forces, and it’s especially a big deal because trans people still cannot serve openly, even after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

In a short letter dated May 2, a Navy official told Autumn Sandeen, a veteran and transgender activist: “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12, 2013.”

Sandeen’s military identification card now reflects the change, a move called “quite significant” by the head of OutServe-SLDN, a national organization for LGBT service members and veterans and their families.

“The fact that a process exists [to change the gender listed] indicates that there are people in the Department of Defense who are aware of the needs of transgender retirees and who are working to see those needs met. And, in that sense, the significance of this symbolic act for our broader work and for our goal of open service becomes I think a little bit more apparent,” OutServe-SLDN executive director Allyson Robinson told BuzzFeed.

Holy cow, this is a huge deal. Major congratulations to Ms. Sandeen for starting what will hopefully become a major change in how the Department of Defense treats its transgender veterans and service members. There’s no excuse for the kind of discrimination that has been perpetuated for so long. 

(via mission-equality)