Louisiana Queer Conference – Bold Not Broken: Queer Resilience in the South

Spectrum and Equality Louisiana are proud to present the 2015 Louisiana Queer Conference, the largest student-run LGBTQ conference in the South, with the support of Louisiana Trans Advocates, Capital City Alliance, Qroma, the LSU Office of Multicultural Affairs, and LSU Student Government!

All students and community members are welcome to join us on March 14 for workshops, caucus sessions, an update on the state of the LGBTQ movement in Louisiana, a fantastic keynote address, and a panel of queer student leaders from across the state.

Throughout the conference, we will reflect on this year’s theme, “Bold Not Broken: Queer Resilience in the South,” which centers the work of queer Southern activists that have lived, worked, and built lives here for decades in the face of a growing national narrative–that the South has been an “impossible” place to organize and is now the new frontier for LGBTQ activism.

Online registration is open now at http://www.laqueerconference.org/register.

The cost is free with your LSU ID, $5 with a non-LSU college ID, and $10 for all other attendees.

The Louisiana Queer Conference provides leadership development, networking opportunities, and social support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) college students and their allies in Louisiana. The conference provides an annual venue for individuals to discuss ideas and collaborate on projects, while building a statewide network to advance the LGBTQ movement.

The conference will be followed by Queer Prom.

Schedule of Events

Workshops

Session 1 (10:20 – 11:10)

Paul R. Baier – Same-Gender Marriage in the Courts
Joe Melcher – What PFLAG Can Do for You
Liam Lair – Making Spaces Sae and Affirming for Trans*/GNC Folks!
Sara Pic – Exploring and Preserving Our Disappearing Histories
Destiny Billiot – (A)sex Ed
Jacqueline Wilson – Addressing the Needs of LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care
Elizabeth Jenkins – Trans 101

Session 2 (1:30 – 2:20)

Dr. Elena Castro – Queering Academia: Legacies, Conversations, and Movements
Tucker Barry – Making the Grade: a Toolkit for LGBTQ Students to Create Change on Campus
Megan Gilliam – Meet Me at the Intersection
Clyde Jones Jr. – HIV 101
Brandon McWilliams – Running on Empty
Joshua Mesman – Queer Jesus
BreakOUT! – Get Yr Rights (Part 1)

Session 3 (2:30 – 3:20)

Eric Evans – HIV Criminalization and PrEP School Because You Can Never Be Too Safe!
Andrea Rubin – Legal Updates and Discussion
Dr. Donald Hoppe – Our Place at the Table: LGBTQ Spirituality
Courtney Murr – Breaking BInaries
Peter Jenkins – Campus Organizing Tactics
Montgomery Mewers – Campus Trans*formation
BreakOUT! – Get Yr Rights (Part 2)