LGBTQ+ Community Voices Series

Join us to hear unique perspectives at the LGBTQ+ Community Voices Series.

LGBTQ Life is proud to host our LGBTQ+ Community Voices Series, designed to highlight under-examined parts of the LGBTQ community. It is our hope that these topics allow us to examine intersections of identities, develop skills as allies, and provide a forum to share perspectives. Presenters are members of the Johns Hopkins communities who will share their stories, lead discussions, and help educate our community.

LGBTQ+ in Quarantine: Aaron Wiegand

March 4 at 4pm

How has the pandemic affected queer and trans individuals? What can their responses teach us about overcoming crisis? Last semester, a classmate and I created a survey and received responses from about 50, mostly young, LGBTQ+ individuals in quarantine who told us about their experiences with navigating their queer and trans identities, accessing healthcare, and searching for community while quarantining with family and friends. We felt that it was important to document and archive their experiences because queer and trans individuals are often marginalized and left out of history. We learned, unsurprisingly, that many individuals struggled with quarantining and returning home to their families, particularly if they were closeted. These individuals’ stories teach us about the unique challenges that queer and trans people have faced due to the pandemic.

Is Straight-Passing a Privilege?: Paige Colburn

April 8 at 4pm

A recent article on Medium argued that whenever anyone in the LGBTQ+ community is “straight-passing,” this only means that we are closeted to those with whom we pass. We widely accept the reality of the closet’s emotional, mental, and physiological burdens. If passing is equivalent to closeting, then to pass can only be a burden, not a privilege. So argues the author of this one article on Medium that I read many months ago and discussed with my loved ones. Now I’d like to discuss with you. Are you straight-passing? Do you know someone who is? How do you feel when you pass? Is it a burden? Or a privilege? Or both? Is the privilege-or-burden question dependent on the situation, or conditional in some other way? As someone who has personally identified myself as “straight-passing,” the article gave me thoughts and feelings. If the topic resonates with you, let’s continue the conversation.

Registration

Sign up for sessions here and we will email you Zoom links.