The Office of Student Multicultural and Diversity Programs will present guest speakers, artists, workshops, film screenings, lectures and panels with local and national experts at UAB from Oct. 13-17 to celebrate Out Week.
National Coming Out Day, a day that helps promote a safe world for individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer to come out, is Oct. 11. On Monday, Oct. 13, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on the North Campus Green, a reception is planned for “Coming Out on the Green,” the core of Out Week. Coordinated by the SafeZone Peer Educators and the Gay/Straight Student Alliance, students will have the opportunity to share their story on a stage in front of their peers and community. They may also have their photo taken as they physically walk through a door.
On Tuesday, Oct. 14, from noon-1:30 p.m., Free Food for Thought and SafeZone will present an educational panel, “Dying of Stigma: A Panel on HIV.” Panelists will include Kelly Ross-Davis of The 1917 Clinic, Dafina Ward of AIDS Alabama, Josh Bruce of Birmingham AIDS Outreach, Nicolas Van Wagoner, M.D., UAB School of Medicine, and Kristi Stringer, graduate student, UAB Department of Sociology. The panel will be moderated by activist Duane Cramer and will take place at The Edge of Chaos, on the fourth floor of the UAB Lister Hill Library, 1720 Second Ave. South.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, five LGBTQ movement leaders will present ideas from their experience in community and campus organizing at The Edge of Chaos. These brief talks will show ways in which innovation meets advocacy, organizing and inclusion, with the goal of sharing knowledge and experience with the public. The leaders scheduled to speak include Sarah Young of Magic City Acceptance Project, Michael Hansen of One Alabama, activist and photographer Duane Cramer, Steven Romeo of The Change Project, and Kirin Kanakkanat of Get Equal. An open exhibit of Cramer’s photography will be on display beginning at 5 p.m. Participants may register at www.uab.edu/safezone.
| The week will culminate with a screening of the film “The Laramie Project” at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, in Heritage Hall, Room 102. Celebrate the life of the late Matthew Shepard in film, then participate in a discussion after the screening. |
At 7 p.m. Oct. 16, students and the community are invited to a screening of the documentary “FagBug Nation” in Heritage Hall, Room 102. The FagBug was born when Erin Davies was victim to a hate crime in Albany, New York, on the 11th annual National Day of Silence. Her car was vandalized, left with the words “fag” and “u r gay” graffiti on the window and hood, believed to be because of a rainbow sticker on Davies’ Volkswagen Beetle. Despite her shock and embarrassment, Davies decided to embrace what happened and left the graffiti on the car. “FagBug Nation” chronicles her 58-day trip around the U.S. and Canada. A Q&A with Davies, who directed the film, will follow the screening. Sponsored by the Gay/Straight Student Alliance, the general public can see the FagBug, which Davies gave a rainbow-colored makeover after driving the car for a year, on the Campus Green from noon to 3 p.m. the same day.
The week will culminate with a screening of the film “The Laramie Project” at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, in Heritage Hall, Room 102. Celebrate the life of the late Matthew Shepard in film, then participate in a discussion after the screening. This screening is in preparation of a lecture to be given by his mother, Judy Shepard, at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, presented by the UAB Lecture Series at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Ave. South.
For more information, call the UAB Office of Student Multicultural and Diversity programs at 205-934-8225 or visit www.uab.edu/diversity.