2016 Point Foundation Scholarship Open to Undocumented LGBTQ Students

http://mydocumentedlife.org/2015/11/03/2016-point-foundation-scholarship-open-to-undocumented-lgbtq-students/
“Point’s application process is open to all college students regardless of citizenship. Undocumented students are eligible and will be reviewed as international students.”

11/12 at 6pm: Beyond Marriage Equality – panel and discussion

https://www.facebook.com/events/1502793540047360/
On June 26th 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees the right for same sex couples to marry. This was hailed as a huge civil rights win for LGBTQ individuals, and celebrations lasted for weeks. But is it the ONLY issue that LGBTQ individuals care about? And why does it continued to be considered THE issue for LGBTQ folks by mainstream media and society?

Join the LGBT Resource Center and the University YMCA for BEYOND MARRIAGE EQUALITY, a panel and discussion, on November 12th to hear the panelists engage in critical perspectives about the fight for marriage equality, and present other crucial issues affecting LGBTQ individuals.

Moderator:
Leslie K. Morrow, Director, LGBT Resource Center and Doctoral Student, Education, Policy, Organization & Leadership

Panelists:
Mike Ziri, Director of Public Policy for Equality Illinois
Siobhan Somerville, Ph.D., Associate Professor, English, Gender &
Women’s Studies, African American Studies
David Luis Glisch-Sanchez, Ph.D, Visiting Assistant Professor, Latina/o Studies
Rico Kleinstein Chenyek, Graduate Student, Institute for Communications Research and Medical Scholars

Celebrate 25 years of Equality Illinois at the Gala

Equality Illinois is entering our 25th year and we plan to celebrate in a big way with our 2016 Gala on Saturday, February 6, 2016, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Hilton Chicago.  The Gala is the largest LGBT events of its kind in the Midwest, drawing more than 1,400 guests, including nearly 100 public officials and many more community VIPs.
You have helped create all the successes and milestones of our movement over the last quarter century and we want to celebrate with you at one of the most anticipated, elegant and fun society events of the year. Make sure to get your tickets now – we are offering special anniversary discounted pricing through November 15th.

EQIL

10/16/2015 Queer Grads, Staff and Faculty Social

https://www.facebook.com/events/177453082596973/
Open to all queer graduate students, staff, and faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Light refreshments will be provided starting at 6pm and will be available until they run out!

Thank YOU for marching with us in Pride!

A huge THANK YOU to all of the faculty, staff, students, families, and even pets(!) who walked with us on Saturday’s Champaign-Urbana Pride parade. We had an awesome turn out, everyone looked great in their orange shirts (and we hope to see them around campus), the weather was just right, and the day was just amazing!

For our seasoned supporters and members, we thank you for your dedication and tireless efforts to promote a more inclusive and support campus and local community for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. If Saturday was your first time joining such an effort, we welcome you to continue working with us through the year and for many more years to come. Below, you’ll find some resources on different ways to stay involved.

IMG_20150919_170249696 IMG_20150919_170937679 IMG_20150919_171318851

Most gay and lesbian researchers are out in the lab

http://www.nature.com/news/most-gay-and-lesbian-researchers-are-out-in-the-lab-1.18187
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) scientists feel more accepted in the workplace than their peers in other professions, a US survey suggests. The study, published in the Journal of Homosexuality1, also found that respondents in scientific fields with a high proportion of women, such as the social sciences, were more likely to be out to their colleagues than those in more male-intensive disciplines, such as engineering.” Read more at link above

Thanks for bowling with us!

A great big thank you for all who joined last night at the Illini Union Rec Room for bowling. It was a pleasure to meet new people, chat, and see familiar faces. I’m going to be compiling the feedback we generated on the poster papers as well as provide a link below for those who weren’t present to share their thoughts as well.

We got some great suggestions on names for our group in July and the time has come for us to vote onmoving forward. Additionally, in anticipation of new staff and students coming this fall, we thought it would be a good idea to crowdsource some helpful information. On the form below, you will find two simple questions. Everyone is welcome to provide as much (or as little) feedback on both as they want. We’ll then compile that master set of information and share out with the group.

Not pictured: People who left early ;P

Not pictured: People who left early ;P

7/13/2015 – Meeting Notes

LGBTQ Employee Affinity Group
Meeting 7/13/2015
Hessel Park

Introductions: Welcome from Manuel Colón
Business Items:
What should our name be? It’s a wise decision to adopt a formal name for the group to have more of an identity and help with branding ourselves and our efforts. Note cards were passed around for everyone to contribute. Here is a small sampling of what we received:
*QueerWorks
*HomoHangout
*Illinoise
*QueerPros
*Illiance
*Queer-I
*Out @ Illinois

What other activities would everyone be interested in? We want to be cognizant of the different interests of others, so notecards were passed around for everyoen to contribute their dieas. Here is a small sampling of what we received:
*Pumpkin/apple picking/Curtis Orchard
*Game night/board games
*Sports games/tailgating/homecoming event
*Kickball/rollerderby/other sports
*Movie night
*Speedmeeting (like speed dating, but just to know others)

Announcements:
-Manuel: Equality Illinois is creating their “Out and About: Good Business Network“. If you own a business or know a business that qualifies, considering nominating.
-Liz: Should we considering participating in the Champaign Pride Parade? Manuel: Yes! It would also be nice to also join forces with other higher educatioin institutions in the area (Parkland, EIU, ISU, WIU, etc) and have a join “Out in Higher Education” contigency. If interested in organizing this effort, contact either Liz (ethw@illinois.edu) or Manuel (macolon2@illinois.edu)
-Devon: As the Asst. Director of the LGBT Resource Center, they wanted to introduce themselves to the group and encourages everyone to learn more about their operations and consider ways that they could collaborate or work together.
-elizaBeth: As a graduate student and representative of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, wants to remind people that graduates are employees too and are also open to different opportunities to collaborate with our group and mutual support one another.

Miscelleanous:
-Every person has affiliated themselves with the group for a variety of reasons and it’s time that we capitalize on everyone’s individual interests, desires, and strengths. At our initial meeting in the spring, three “sub-committees” were proposed to allow people to engage in the capacity that they would be more interested.  For more info navigate to https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/7199565
-Cites Wiki, there is a Wiki page for any LGBTQ related news, resources, materials, etc. that everyone (with a netID) is welcome to browse and contribute. The hope is a create a centralized knowledge bank of different LGBTQ related information that is community-driven and crowd-sourced. Check it out at go.illinois.edu/lgbtqwiki 

05/04/2015 – Meeting Notes

LGBTQ Employee Affinity Group Meeting
Monday, May 4th at 5:30pm
Rm. 209, Illini Union

Introductions

-Check out the queso ice cream at El Oasis in Urbana

 

Announcements

  • Do not forget the communication tools that have been created so that information sharing, networking, and general conversation can take place outside of a “formal” meeting time and location.
  • GEO member, elizaBeth Simpson, shared about the opportunity to work more closely with Graduate students who are employees of the University and potential collaboration. elizaBeth will send out more information across the listserv later.
  • Ally Network Training Committee eliciting feedback
    • You are welcome to send a message to Devon Guidoux (dguidoux@illinois.edu) with any questions, suggestions, or comments to improve the Ally training(s) that the committee does. Devon will also follow-up to the listserv regarding a form to provide feedback.
  • Summer Meeting Locations (Locations tentative, dates and times firm)
    • A budget of $100 for each meeting has been secured for nominal costs.
    • Monday, June1st at 5:30pm, White Horse Inn
      • Need to reserve location
    • Monday, July 6th at 6:0pm, Hessel Park for BBQ
      • Need to reserve location
      • Purchase food
      • Purchase BBQ materials
    • Monday, August 3rd at 5:30pm, Illini Union Rec Room for Bowling
      • Need to reserve location
      • Have a “registration”

 

Upcoming Events

  • Lavender Congratulatory: Wednesday, May 6th  at 5pm in Illini Union Rms. A & B. An opportunity to recognize students (undergraduate and grads), also there are campus and community awards. A good time to have a presence for Queer professionals that the students can see.
  • “A conversation about our Common Future”: Monday, May 18th at 2pm-3:30pm in Krannert (Tyron Theatre). The new University President and campus chancellors will have “town hall” meetings. A good opportunity to make see if Queer issues are on their radar and remind them of so.
  • LGBTQ Employee End of the Year Social: Wednesday, May 20th , 5:30pm-7:30pm at Big Grove Tavern. This is a family-friendly event where children and partners are welcome. Meant to be a nice time to socialize and celebrate the end of the spring semester. Facebook event and RSVP, but not required.

 

Open Forum

  • The meetings only draw about 6-10 people, but more than 36 on listserv. How can we expand 1) Who know we exist? and 2) Who comes to the meetings?
  • Start thinking of names for the group. “LGBTQ Employee Affinity Group” sounds more like a description and is really bland when we think of identity and community building.
  • Any thoughts on what we can do for the 2015-2016 Year?
    • Create some kind of ½ to ¼ sheet paper to be included during new employee orientation so people know about the listserv, the Wiki, and other information that they might need to become involved.
    • Find “Quad Day” like opportunities for Employees that we can have a visible presence at. Possibly the Employee Expo would be a good avenue
    • Consider “rotating” meetings, where different offices host the meetings, so that people can get acquainted with different parts of campus and increase the LGBTQ visibility across units.
    • Local and Regional Pride Festivals
      • Champaign Pride will likely take place when Fall semester comes back into session. Manuel will reach out to the UP Center and offer our assistance or ways that we could collaborate.
      • Chicago Pride parade is Sunday, June 28th. It might be fun to try and organize a group to go up and watch the parade and/or coordinate efforts with UIS or UIC to march as an Illinois group. Manuel will look more into this.