Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender Resource Center

—— News ——

Here you'll find news that affects the MSU LBGTA community, calls for participation, updates on action campaigns and links to a few useful sources. Current events are listed further down the page.

Gender Identity added to MSU ADP

On Friday, April 13, 2007 the Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to add 'gender identity' as a protected category in the University's Anti-Discrimination Policy (ADP). With this revision, MSU joins the majority of Big Ten universities whose anti-discrimination policies already contain gender identity, including the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State University.

The change follows the work done by the Second Ad Hoc Gender Identity Committee, which released its full report during spring term 2007. This report was endorsed unanimously by both Faculty Council (March 13) and Academic Council (March 20).

Excellence in Diversity Award

The LBGT Resource Center (formerly the Office of LBGT Concerns) on March 14, 2007 received an Excellence in Diversity award for Excellent Progress toward Diversity Collaboration. "Office staff members have worked to craft alliances among and between diverse groups of students, faculty and staff; designed leading-edge programs; and partnered with numerous campus groups to address students' concerns with the university structure. They have led and collaborated on numerous initiatives focusing on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in a multicultural, multi-issue context." More information about the award is available from the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives. Photos appear in the March 15 issue of the MSU News Bulletin.

MSU response to passage of 2006 Proposal 2

There is now an official MSU webpage about diversity and inclusion at MSU after Proposal 2. That page also has a link to President Simon's personal blog, where she is writing on this subject. Update: On Saturday, December 30, the Lansing State Journal reported that the injunction to delay implementation of Prop 2 while court cases are decided has been lifted by a federal appeals court.

MSU is one of the "100 Best LGBT Campuses" featured in the new Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students!

Released on August 15, 2006, "The Advocate College Guide For LGBT Students is the product of nearly 5,000 online interviews with LGBT students and 500 online interviews with faculty and staff from campuses across the United States. Not only does the guide rank the best LGBT campuses, but for the first time, you also hear the reasons why from the experts themselves—LGBT college students."

Real ID Act

Have you heard about the Real ID Act? It's already changing the way states issue ID cards and driver's licenses. If you're trans or genderqueer or intersex, you really need to know more about this!

—— Major Event Calendar 2008/2009 ——

Scheduled events. More general news items are at the top of this page.

Spartan Remix

Thursday, August 28, 7:00 pm, MSU Union. Watch for more details!

LBGT Statewide Resource Fair

The LBGT Resource Fair is being redesigned for 2008/2009 and will be held later in the fall semester. This event includes organizations from campus, the Lansing area and around the state.

Bisexuality Day

Bisexuality Day is observed on September 23 as a way of focusing attention on this often ignored and invisible identity.

National Coming Out Week

National Coming Out Week is a week of events organized around National Coming Out Day (NCOD) on October 11.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

The ninth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on November 20 is a time to reflect on the violence done to trans people and in particular on those who have lost their lives because of that violence. Trans resource pages.

Conferences

The frist Midwest Trans Youth Conference was hosted by Affirmations October 19-21 in Ferndale, Michigan; Creating Change is January 28-February 1, 2009 in Denver, Colorado; and MBLGTACC is February TBA, 2009 at Indiana University-Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana.

Pride Week

MSU's Pride week is a precursor to Pride events held around the world, mostly in June of each year. Pride Week events begin on April 11, 2008.

National Day of Silence

The National Day of Silence is April 25, 2008.

Lavender Reception

The academic year ends with our Lavender Reception, an event that recognizes LBGTA graduates, student leaders, panel program participants and advisors.

—— Listservs & Facebook——

Do you want a quick and easy way to stay connected to all the LBGTA-related events that happen on campus and in the area? Then you want to join the Triang-l listserv, where LBGTQQAI events are posted regularly, including news about when the various student groups meet and what the next meeting is about, upcoming NCOD and Pride Week events, and more. All you need is an MSU email account to subscribe. If you would like more info on the Triang-l listserv, go to the GLFSA webpage. If you do not wish to subscribe to Triang-l, check back to this page for regular updates on upcoming events, or set up an RSS feed!

MSU LBGT Resource Center is a Facebook group on the MSU Network, with 15 members as of August 15, 2007. Join up and keep up with what's happening, or help make it happen! (The old group, "Office of LBGT Concerns" will be removed in September.)

—— Finally . . . keep us in mind!

To have an event listed here, send us an email with all relevant information. Please try to include: (1) event name, (2) date and time, (3) location, (4) short description of the event and/or speaker/entertainer mini-bios, (5) sponsoring groups, (6) contact information (e.g., phone number, email address, website), and (7) any other relevant information (wheelchair accessibility, ASL interpreter, ticket information, et cetera). Thank you!