The University’s LGBT community is among the most active on campus. Clubs such as Spectrum host activities and meetings meant to reach out and find others looking to fit in.
Members of Spectrum and of the Baton Rouge community gathered Tuesday night to brainstorm a theme for their most important event of the year, the Louisiana Queer Conference.
Although they did not reach a final conclusion or theme, the meeting was the first of many that will eventually lead to the conference in April, which is the flagship LGBT advocacy event in the state.
Peter Jenkins, clerk for the Louisiana Democratic Party, said having a conference means a great deal to LGBT people across the state.
“I have been to LGBT conferences and they are great, but they are rarely held in the South and if they are, they are very far away,” Jenkins said. “Having one here at LSU is invaluable to the community.”
Even though the conference is not until April, Spectrum member Markita Lewis, nutritional science senior, said finding the right theme and slogan months in advance is key to the planning process.
“When we settle on a theme, it allows us to flesh out the entire conference,” Lewis said. “After the theme is set, we find a keynote speaker, and everything falls into place.”
Michael Bayer, political science sophomore and member of Spectrum, said they will look at past themes for inspiration and expand on what has been done before.
“The theme last year was ‘turning education into action’ and the year before it was ‘It’s all of us or none of us,’” Bayer said. “Finding a theme is important because it will set the mood for the whole conference.”
LAQC is an event for the entire state and Bayer said the conference puts Louisiana on the map for the LGBT community.
“LAQC is a networking event and allows people from the surrounding area to get together and learn,” Bayer said. “With this event, we get a national speaker and in Louisiana that doesn’t happen very often.”
Jenkins said finding the right theme and slogan for an entire conference may seem like a daunting task, but the importance of the issues facing LGBT people across the country makes it worth it.
“In many states, it is still legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender,” Jenkins said. “This conference will shed light on that and will go a long way to making equality actually happen.”