CQA’s Speaker Series THIS WEDNESDAY!

Come join CQA, QuAM, and MAGNET (Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People) for a night of discussion and exploration of the (mis)representation of transgender, transsexual, and intersex people in the media.

The event will consist of a panel discussion followed by Q&A with the audience. Light refreshments will be available.

Our panelists are:

Ashley Love – Organizer of MAGNET (Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexual & Transgender People)
Noah Lewis – Staff Attorney at Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
Deb Sprague – Writer-Producer: Premiere Radio Networks
Kyle Lukoff – Barnard alum

In honor of Gender Rights Week, this discussion will focus on the depictions of transsexual, transgender and intersex images in the media. Come out to hear our panelists discuss the presence, representation, and misrepresentation of the entire gender spectrum in the media and beyond!

Where: 304 Barnard

When: 7pm on Wednesday, October 13

RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1096260247#!/event.php?eid=167056236638349&index=1

VIGIL FOR VICTIMS OF LGBT BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

Dear CQA,

Like you, I have been deeply saddened by the recent tragedies that have taken place in our community. Within the past two weeks, six young men between the ages of 13 and 19 have died from suicide as a result of homophobic bullying:

Asher Brown (age 13)
Seth Walsh (age 13)
Justin Aaberg (age 15)
Billy Lucas (age 15)
Tyler Clementi (age 18)
Raymond Chase (age 19)

Students at NYU are asking that we all come together as a collective community to remember these young men as well as all of those we have lost due to hatred and bigotry. Please join CQA and the other campus LGBT groups on SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3 as we join our NYC community for the “You are Loved Vigil.” We’ll travel down to Washington Square Park together.

WHEN: Sunday, October 3 @ 8:00pm
WHERE: 116th Street and Broadway gates
URL: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=158097784219087

I also think that it is important that we have a community discussion about LGBT bullying and harassment before we go to the vigil. For this reason, we will dedicate most of CQA’s weekly meeting on Sunday to this discussion.

CQA WEEKLY MEETING – DISCUSSION ON LGBT BULLYING AND HARASSMENT
WHERE: IRC Second Floor Conference Room, 552 W. 114th Street
WHEN: 2pm on Sunday, October 3, 2010

FIRST GENERAL BODY MEETING: SEPTEMBER 12 @ 2pm

Hi CQA Fans,

Intercultural Resource Center on W. 114th Street

Here are the details on our first meeting! Everyone is welcome to attend. You’ll get to meet this year’s board, as well as

learn about the dozens of opportunities to get involved and start your own LGBTQA initiatives within CQA.

Where: The Intercultural Resource Center (IRC), floor 2 conference room

Address: 552 W. 114th Street (across from Lerner Hall)

When: 2pm on Sunday, September 12

Please email CQA president Sean Manning Udell (smu2106@columbia.edu) with any questions that you might have about the meeting.

And First Friday is TONIGHT!

Join us in our Summer Blogging!

Have you thought about doing a summer blog? Then join CQA as we blog through the summer about our LGBTQA experiences outside of Columbia! No matter where you are in the world, we and our 150 daily unique viewers want to know what you’re up to. Please email CQA president Sean Manning Udell (smu2106@columbia.edu) if you’re interested in blogging for CQA this summer.

We Need a Hero Like…Anderson Cooper!

You learn a lot of things when you move to New York: its nearly impossible to take a subway cross-town, it’s SO not cool to go into Times Square, and Anderson Cooper is gay! (Well, he might not publicly say that, but if you’ve been in the Village more than five times, you’ve probably run into him and his boyfriend at least once.) What’s so shocking about this last piece of the NYC learning curve is HOW UNKNOWN Anderson Cooper’s private life is outside of New York City (with possible exception for gossipy towns like LA). Ask people in the middle of the country about Mr. Cooper’s sex life, and I’d bet the farm that you won’t hear about his “alleged” homosexuality. I tried this once on my grandmother – who lives in Louisiana – and I got the funniest response: “He’s gay? No, no, no, you’re wrong. He’s a Vanderbilt!” (Which is true, but I still fail to see how the two are mutually exclusive.)

Now, I bring all of this up because I got into a big argument with one of my suitemates recently about Cooper’s closeted-ness, sparked by this interview of Kathy Griffin in the DC Agenda. Towards the end of the article, Griffin is asked about the extent to which CNN censors her jokes with regard to Cooper’s sexuality. She evasively answers by saying that she won’t go into his private life. My suitemate defends this, but I really wish that Griffin would go into his private life.