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

Special Speaker at Next Meeting | Sunday @ 2pm

Hi CQA Fans!

Quick note: we have a really special guest at our upcoming meeting! Fred Karger, an activist who made it known that the Church of Jesus Christ and Later Day Saints (LDS – a.k.a. Mormons) played a huge part in the Prop 8 funding, will be coming to speak to the Queer Alliance at our weekly meeting. Karger is also currently involved in a presidential exploratory committee; he is considering an independent run for the Presidency of the United States, and would be the first openly gay man to do this. It should be a really interesting meeting, so I hope you can all make it.

Where: Stephen Donaldson Lounge in the basement of Furnald Hall

When: 2pm on Sunday, September 19

Speaker Series: Gay Crazy?

Join the Columbia Queer Alliance as we continue our monthly Speaker Series with a panel discussion and Q&A focusing on LGBTQ health and health services on campus and around New York City.

Come hear our speakers discuss available LGBT health services in New York City, how changing times have led to a changing health-seeking LGBT population, the evolution of the AIDS crisis and its effect on LGBT health, the impact that the “exgay” movement has on LGBT mental health, and obstacles to a healthy LGBT community, within and without its own ranks.

Joining us for the panel discussion will be:

-Shirley Matthews from Columbia’s Couseling & Psychological Services
-Chris Paliouris from Barnard’s Furman Counseling Center
-Amy Liss from the Callen-Lorde Community Center
-Donovan Jones from NYU’s Center for Health, Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies

Light refreshments will be served.

Why Only Marriage Equality Will Do: The Fight for Same-Sex Marriage

Join the Students Advancing Marriage Equality (SAME) Campaign in welcoming Marriage Equality New York (MENY) to Columbia on Wednesday, April 21 at 9pm in Fayerweather 313!

Marriage Equality New York is one of the largest non-profit advocacy groups for marriage equality in New York State, and we are honored to have Gary Steinkohl (Vice President of the Board of Directors and Education Director for MENY), Brian Silva (MENY Events Director), Jake Goodman (MENY activist), and other MENY members come speak on campus.

Their presentation is titled, “Why Only Marriage Equality Will Do: The Fight for Same-Sex Marriage” and will be focused on some basic “Marriage 101:” Why Marriage Equality NY is fighting for the right of every person to enter into a civil marriage with the person of their choice, regardless of their gender, and the challenges achieving this.

Please join us for what is sure to be a great presentation (with free snacks and compelling discussion)!

Sponsored by: The Activist Council of the CU College Dems, The Columbia Political Union, Barnard Q, Columbia Queer Alliance, National Marriage Boycott, The International Socialist Organization, and Everyone Allied Against Homophobia

CQA Speaker Series Kicks Off With a Smashing Success!

Huge props to Laura and the CQA team for what was a fabulous night at our first CQA Speaker Series yesterday. There were about fifty people in attendance; thanks for coming out! We had six panelists at the event: Winnie Varghese, Priest at St. Mark’s Church; Nicole Schwalbe, the University’s Lutheran chaplain; Reverend Manny Santiago, Columbia’s Methodist chaplain; Justin Rosen, a GS/JTS graduate who works with Jewish nonprofits; GS Dean Peter Awn, a former Jesuit Priest for twenty years and currently a professor of Islam; and our very own CQA Social Chair Learned Foote, a member of an evangelical Christian family from Michigan. The panelists had many terrifically inspiring and insightful remarks regarding the intersections and voids surrounding the topic of Religion and Sexuality. For a pretty good review, please check out BWOG’s take on the night.

The Speaker Series is going to become a monthly event where we give knowledgeable folks a platform to inform the Columbia community about pressing concerns for LGBTQIA people. Keep your ears and eyes open for our upcoming April Speaker Series. And if you have any topic suggestions, please leave them in the comments! Or better yet: come to our weekly meeting – as always, open to EVERYONE – at 2pm on Sunday in the Stephen Donaldson Lounge (Furnald Basement).