2018-2019 Highlights

2018-2019 was a fantastic school year. See some of the highlights here!.

Baltimore Pride Parade – June 16, 2018. LGBTQ Life led students, staff, and faculty in the Baltimore Pride Parade. Our group included more than 300 people from across Hopkins. This year’s parade began near the LGBTQ Life office, allowing us to host a gathering in the building’s courtyard. In a survey, participants remarked that they appreciated “[g]etting to be a part of both JHU’s and the larger Baltimore LGBTQ community in a public, visible way.”

The Laramie Project – In honor of the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, the student performing group The Barnstormers hosted a production of The Laramie Project. LGBTQ Life partnered with the group and hosted a talkback after the performance on October 28.

Pan-Asian LGBTQ Dinner – November 5, 2018. LGBTQ Life hosted a dinner to discuss the experiences of people who identify as both LGBTQ and Asian. Students watched short clips, discussed with their peers, and gained a better recognition of the intersections of these complex identities.

ThanksGAYving – November 12, 2018. DSAGA reprised their annual community event. This year was particularly special as President Ronald Daniels and Joanne Rosen hosted the dinner at their home. About 100 people joined us for a fabulous meal and conversation.

World AIDS Day Dinner – December 1, 2018. The World AIDS Day Dinner was a collaborative event between LGBTQ Life, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. This event featured a performance from the Baltimore Men’s Chorus. We also had support from the Center for AIDS Research and Project R.E.A.C.H.

Creating Change | January 24 – 27, 2019. Creating Change is an annual conference on LGBTQ rights sponsored by the National LGBTQ Task Force. 4 students went to Detroit, Michigan for the event, where they met with leaders in LGBTQ rights and learned strategies to bring back to campus.

Show Your Love | February 14, 2019. We distributed more than 2,700 rainbow ribbons to people across the Hopkins enterprise, asking them to wear the ribbons to show their love for the LGBTQ community. Participants shared photos with the #JHUshowYourLove hashtag. This was a low-cost, high-visibility program that reached a wide range of people. Many people continued wearing their ribbons even after the event had ended. 55 people came to a celebration dinner that evening.

Lavender Celebration | May 5, 2019. We ended the year with a celebration of our graduating students and all we had accomplished. We honored 25 graduating students through an event that highlighted their individual contributions to the Hopkins community. About 65 students, staff, faculty, and alumni enjoyed conversation, community, and rainbow cake.

LGBTQAA Staff/Faculty Summit | May 10, 2019. With the support of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Human Resources, we hosted an afternoon-long event for LGBTQAA staff and faculty. This time was intended to develop community bonds, establish priorities, and develop action plans for improving Hopkins.

Educational programs: Safe Zone trainings are 3 hour sessions that anyone can attend and learn more about the LGBTQ community. From June 2018 – May 2019, we trained 548 people in 35 sessions held across the Hopkins community. We held and collaborated on 28 educational speakers, movies, presentations, and discussions. We supported and facilitated Identity and Inclusion workshops with Diversity and Inclusion colleagues.

Advocacy: We reached a milestone with greater inclusion of chosen names in computer systems. We advocated for all-gender restrooms and created a map of the restrooms for more visibility. We published our LGBTQ Needs Assessment that will shape our priorities for the next year.

Learn more in our PDF Document: annual report!