LGBT Campus Center hosts Out & About Month 2013

The UW–Madison community and LGBT Campus Center will celebrate LGBTQ lives and experiences with Out & About Month events from April 9-26. The public is invited to the programs, including brown bag discussions, a drag and variety show, zine release party, “queer prom,” and keynote presentation with author and artist Alison Bechdel.

The month will open with the Queer Emerging Leaders Program reception on Tuesday, April 9 from 5:30-7 p.m. in room 106 of the Red Gym, and continue with Gary Segura’s brown bag discussion about marriage equality and America’s growing Latina/o electorate on Wednesday, April 10 from noon-1 p.m. in the LGBT Campus Center, room 123, Red Gym.

On the night of Thursday, April 11, JuJuBee of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will join Lucy von Cucci and Davina DaVille and student performers for an evening of entertainment across the spectrum of gender identity and expression. Doors open at 7 p.m. The event is free with a UW ID.

The Out & About Month keynote, “An Evening with Alison Bechdel,” will be held on Wednesday, April 17 from 7-8:30 p.m. in Room L160 of the Elvehjem Building. The author of the comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” and graphic memoirs “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” and “Are You My Mother?,” Bechdel will speak about “queer identity” and the impact of personal narrative.

History buffs will appreciate the two brown bag discussions about Wisconsin LGBTQ histories. “The Gay Purge of 1962” is the topic of the Tuesday, April 16 talk by undergraduate scholar Gina Slesar, and on Thursday, April 18, students will report on their experiences collecting LGBTQ oral histories from small towns across the state. Both talks run from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the LGBT Campus Center.

The release of [un]leashed, the second volume of the student-produced [un] zine series, will be celebrated at a party with free snacks, music and art on Friday, April 19th from 5-7 p.m. in the MSC Lounge, Red Gym.

“Queer Prom: A Night of Truth, Beauty, Freedom & Love” will cap off the month. University Housing and the Multi-Cultural Student Coalition are co-hosting the event on Friday, April 26 from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. in Great Hall at the Memorial Union.

The month’s observance is made possible by support from the Distinguished Lecture Series-Wisconsin Union Directorate, New Harvest Foundation, Lectures Committee, UW–Madison Libraries, Chadbourne Residential College, Department of English, Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, and University Health Services.