May 2008 LBGT@MIT Newsletter

In this month's newsletter


Letter from LBGT@MIT staff

Hello Everyone -

The end of the academic year is upon us, and we invite you to come celebrate! This month features the LYPSTIC Finale Event (5/3), the Kellett Award Presentation and Award Convocation (5/6), and the Lavender Graduation Celebration (5/7). These events and more are detailed below – scroll down to learn more. We look forward to seeing you soon!

- The staff of lbgt@mit


This month's events

Help, Healing & Hope
12:00p-1:00p, Thursday, May 1
Join us for a support luncheon for survivors, friends, family, and those affected by sexual violence. Come find support, ask questions, and discuss the journey towards healing for yourself and others. For those interested in more information, please contact Lynn Roberson in S^3 (roberson@mit.edu).

Activist Lunch: What you can do to help.
12:00p-1:00p, Friday, May 2
Latino Cultural Center W20-028
Join us for a free lunch and discussion on how to get involved in sexual violence prevention. The event will include brief presentations by a prevention specialist at Harvard and representative from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Fierce Follow-Up Meeting
5:00p-6:00p, Friday, May 2 in the Rainbow Lounge (50-005)
Come hear how it all went down! Fierce Forever Planners meeting post-event wrap up with videos!

LYPSTIC Finale Event!
9:00a-3:00p Saturday, May 3
LYPSTIC (LBGT Youth Program to Strengthen Tolerance In your Community) is an outreach program under MIT student leadership. The goal of LYPSTIC is to help engage youth in developing initiatives and projects with their High Schools Gay Straight Alliance or similar groups by providing them with financial, technical, and mentoring support. This Saturday we will host the 11 schools that received funds to hear how their projects evolved to change their communities. All MIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni are welcome to attend. The day will start at 9 am in 50-005 and move to W20 by 10 am.

2008 Awards Convocation
4:00p-5:00p Tuesday, May 6 in the Stata Center, 32-123
Join us to recognize the recipient of this year’s John SW Kelltt Award!

YOU ARE INVITED to Lavender Graduation Celebration!
5:30p-6:30p Wednesday, May 7 in the Emma Rogers Room 10-340
Please join us for a celebration of the end of the year and to recognize our distinguished LBGT and Ally graduates. This event is open to everyone (MIT staff, students, faculty, alumni), whether you've been involved with LBGT@MIT or not! Please RSVP to afran@mit.edu by Tuesday May 6th.

Friday Movie Nights! 5/9, 16, 23, 30
Sandwiches and Movie Night!
Take a break from your studies and come watch an LBGT-themed movie in the Rainbow Lounge (50-005) starting at 6pm. Early birds choose the film. We'll have peanut butter and jelly & fluffer-nutter (peanut butter and marshmallow fluff) sandwiches. Yummy!

Queer People of Color Brunch
Monday 5/12
12:00p-2:00p (drop in anytime) 50-005, Rainbow Lounge
All self-identified queer people of color from the MIT community are welcome at this Bi-Monthly Queer People Of Color Lunch Series. Come by your self, or bring your crew. QPOC lunches are casual, friendly, community-building for everybody.

LBGT Issues Group meeting
Tuesday 5/13, 50-005, all are welcome!
4:30pm social time, 5-6pm Meeting
This month we address - ‘what is Diversity at MIT?’ Come hear about the issues that are of current importance to fellow members of the LBGT and Ally community at MIT. We'll work together to make progress on the most pressing issues at hand. Anyone affiliated with MIT and LBGT-friendly is welcome to join and to participate.


Support meetings

BATS meeting
Boston Area Trans Support (BATS) is a peer-run support group for college-age/twenty-something transgender people. The group is inclusive of people who are questioning their gender, are FTM, MTF, gender-queer, and those who prefer any other gender descriptor. For more information, including the exact meeting time and location, please contact: Sean Delmore, sdelmore@mit.edu, x 2-1612.


Save the date - upcoming events

June:
6/6: BGALA Tech Reception
6/7: Boston Pride!


Opportunities for students, faculty and staff

What does it mean to be “Asian” or “Queer”? Labels define and confine - break out of your checkboxes and come to UC Berkeley’s 1st Annual Queer and Asian Conference, held on Saturday, May 3rd. Hosted by Berkeley’s Cal Queer and Asian student group, this conference aims to look at the collision of “Asian” and “Queer” to help replace silence with stories. Contact qacon08@gmail.com for more information!

LBGT Youth Pride, 10:00a-11:00p Saturday, May 10 Youth Pride is the oldest and largest GLBT pride event for youth in the nation. Since it’s inception in 1994, Youth Pride has been wildly successful alleviating isolation and the social stigma associated with being a GLBT youth. Youth Pride is a fantastic celebration attended by thousands of youth from all over New England. Visit: http://www.massyouthpride.org

Domestic violence knows no gender - help fight it by becoming a volunteer for the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project! Attend the upcoming volunteer training session on May 1st, and learn to address this serious public health issue through education, advocacy and direct services. Contact volunteer@gmdvp.org for more information!

The Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp is looking for undergraduate students interested in becoming strong leaders for safer, more LGBT-friendly campuses! Participants in this five-day camp will learn valuable organizing skills and strategies for creating change. The camp takes place from July 19-24; head to http://www.campuspride.org for more!

Purpose, passion and power – hone your leadership skills at the National Conference on Student Leadership! Learn to inspire others and be a force for change – go to http://www.ncslcollege.com/ncsl/fall.html for more information! Apply by May 1 and save on registration fees!

The University of Maryland is looking for anyone who identifies as queer or questioning to participate in a research study on beliefs about sexual orientation. Even if you prefer not to label yourself, they are interested in your experiences! Participation takes about 20-30 minutes to fill out some online questionnaires, with a random drawing of prizes for participants! Direct your questions to Julie Arseneau at jra87@umd.edu or to Dr. Ruth E. Fassinger at rfassing@umd.edu.

The Transgender Youth Summit is for youth ages 24 and under from across Massachusetts that identify or fall under the "transgender" umbrella. Come together with transgender, gender queer and gender variant youth to share ideas, socialize, learn about legal rights, and take part in civic activism. The summit is from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Democracy Center in Harvard Square. The summit is free, and T-shirts, breakfast and lunch will be provided. Please register by June 24, either at http://www.masstpc.org or by calling 617-778-0519!

Want to become directly involved in a political campaign? Apply for the Human Rights Campaign's 2008 Campaign College! Open to anyone from 18-24, an intensive one-week training in Washington, D.C. is a great way to meet people and learn how a campaign works -- and the full-time, three-month position in a political campaign gives invaluable hands-on experience. Applicants should have a strong interest in electoral politics and a commitment to GLBT issues, and should submit a resume and letters of recommendation with their application. The training runs from August 11-17, and the placement runs full-time from August 18 to November 4. Go to http://www.hrc.org or contact campaigncollege@hrc.org for more information.


Rainbow Lounge Spring Hours:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 1pm-7pm
Tuesday, Thursday 1pm-6pm
 


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