Good morning. Thank you for attending this LGBT History
month event. I want to, I want to
start by thanking Brian and the diversity council at the
library for hosting this as well as the other folks
. I don't know who have been doing some really
awesome ally work at the library Since coming to Virginia
Tech two years ago. I have enjoyed the libraries
support of LGBTQ efforts including things like rainbow unicorns
on the website and what not very, very cool
. So I will, I will jump in today
. Uh, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna have
some images here that, that don't really have any
content specific to the talk, but they're just going
to kind of set some context and background. Um
, so I'll begin. There we go today.
I will have a difficult time keeping my voice down
In early September of 1998. I drove with my
mom from San Antonio Texas to corvallis Oregon. On
the way we made a brief stop in Laramie Wyoming
at the time. I thought nothing of it and
unmemorable detail until one month later when I stood candle
in hand with several 100 people outside our student union
mourning the death of Matthew Shepard. Something previously quiet
. Something quieted had awoken in me and I could
not figure out what I knew though, that something
in me no longer wanted to feel hushed. What
was this quiet? What was the new disquiet raised
in south texas? I had learned so well to
follow the rules of my social uniform, Act polite
, treat others with respect sir and ma'am and what
not. So what was the new trouble? It
felt queer and I needed it. I didn't quite
understand it, but I knew I needed it and
it would take me some time to understand it.
Over the years that followed, I would come to
consider this disquiet is something that bound me up in
LGBTQ history, to a great many people far braver
than I to the people who bent the so called
arc of the moral universe, but not just a
little. These makers of LGBTQ history contorted and twisted
and strained the so called arc and they decorated it
with glitter and they had to because otherwise justice would
pass them by southern lutherans. Uh Southern lutherans are
not supposed to talk like this as I think some
of, you know, growing up, I had
heard enough people whisper something like that boy just ain't
right. And I used to live with the quiet
. But this disquiet came over me and standing there
at the vigil for shepherd. I wondered 1969,
the Stonewall riots broke against the tide of cruel police
brutality, led by trans people. The names of
many we may never know, and I think they
must have felt this sort of disquiet, harvey milk
must have felt this when he drew a great political
movement around him, catalyzing a cultural revolution that outlives
him even today. Now, on this day in
October October 17 and 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in
the US. fleeing Nazi persecution, disquieted by racist
discrimination at Princeton University. Einstein helped to found the
fledging Institute for Advanced Study for scholars and refuge from
the status quo of the day. Gwen Smith must
have felt this disquiet when she began trans day of
amendments and fired, rushed into must have felt something
like this. On silence. When the 1960s,
he helped to organize the March on Washington and Gloria
Ansel Doula told me once how she chose to be
queer, unable to live like she was expected to
quietly live. I think she too must have felt
this When Audrey Lorde wrote nearly 90 days a newsletter
to teachers. A Brave Act in the early 1980s
. How there is no hierarchy of oppression. She
disquieted the silences of racism among LGBT communities and the
homophobia and transphobia among people of colour. Thanks.
Suzanne Far must feel this. So for many years
moving from state to state, she could organize against
the mean spirited ballot measures and cruel political programs.
And more recently, Malala Yousafzai, pardon me,
you supply lives on after a gunshot wound to the
head and chooses to continue to speak out against brutal
treatment of women. And perhaps she feels this to
what do we make of Chelsea manning in the disquieting
act of sharing government secrets to wikileaks? What do
we do with the disquieting, unsettling queer feelings to
talk of LGBT history without talking about queer history would
quietly gloss over our past at the expense of our
future. We're a silly little word, kind of
a sissy or pansy of a term really a prissy
, impertinent and incredulous term. The term queer has
all sorts of problems. Sometimes it drags along racist
, classist, ethnocentric and transphobic problems. At the
same time, the reclamation of queer as a matter
of liberation was wrought by the life and labor and
even the bloodshed of real people and imbued with emancipatory
potential. Give queer some consideration for a bit and
think about what the word invokes. I'm ruling.
Disquieting, unpatriotic, playful, can't be irritating,
unusual, disruptive, insufferable, strange. Oh,
so strange, caring, slutty complex, sullen,
peculiar, bizarre, freakish, uncanny. And the
list goes on. Queer won't fit. Queer often
won't feel pride. So what do we do with
this? We have this problem with Pride and LGBT
History and queer. You see the two don't always
get along. Sometimes we gather up our fears and
use pride to quiet the queer. Hey, you're
a proud hokey, right? You have pride in
Hokie nation, I'm sure. Let me help you
under your maroon and orange uniform and then you can
feel safe. Get synched up in a tight corset
of school. Pride. Don't breathe too freely.
Stay quiet and you too can belong. What sort
of LGBT history do we need to talk about?
Do people feel disquieted here at Virginia Tech? Do
we let people speak honestly in their own unruly voices
? Do we trust one another to feel this way
and to do anything about it? How can anyone
feel pride here? If we have to dress up
queer in a quiet, proper uniform? How can
anyone act queer if we keep nodding along ever so
politely to the num voices of caution. I think
, you know, these numbing voices all too well
be professional. They say we can't move too fast
, wait. The time will come. You want
that letter of recommendation, don't you? You don't
want to upset anyone that could have consequences. Maybe
now isn't a good time. I'm not sure.
They'll give us permission to do that. Have you
given any thought to how this might impact your future
? So, you feel like a heretic? Do
you have anyone to tell Who won't try to shut
you up when you try to talk like an honest
dissident in order to protect your last shred of dignity
? Does anyone listen? Who doesn't then try to
round off the unsettling sharp edges or turn down the
volume? Maybe I take this too far. Don't
we have some LGBT history to feel proud of?
Very many people in the history of the school in
the state have labored hard to unmake the quiet uniform
of stifling conformity. They've taken great risks. In
fact, I would have no platform to speak like
this today. If not for people who have put
themselves at risk to queer the forum. Don't we
have to regard their work as queer? Yes,
of course we do. We also have to think
more carefully about the differences between instances and trends to
emphasize only the episodes and instances of queer disruptive emancipatory
change. That's a different question than the one.
I think we need to ask. What about the
overall pattern of our history here. I don't think
we can stop at a question about particular instances.
Rather, I wonder has Virginia Tech had a queer
uprising? Has Virginia tech benefited from anything like the
queer movements that cropped up in the early 1990s from
around 1990 to 2000 and four, rising on the
shoulders of anti racist, feminist disabilities and gay and
lesbian rights movements. Things changed on college and university
campuses and in high schools around the country during the
era. And since campuses have played host all sorts
of flaming campy and flamboyant star bursts of disquieting refusal
to where the uniformity of pride the way a decently
ambitious and simultaneously self loathing person should an era of
lascivious political magic and read nancy Sinatra boots for some
campuses, but for some campuses has remained an era
of under complicated khaki pants and respectable knee length skirts
. Yeah. Like to try to predict the exact
moment in the talk when the person who organized it
starts to wonder what have I done? We're good
, we're good. Maybe in that formative area,
LGBTQ community. Um, some people started to notice
sometimes we're fat, sometimes we're poor. My gosh
, our skin comes in all sorts of shades and
sometimes we're slutty and some of us were hijab.
Our bodies don't all have the same parts. And
then there's that problem with the way we keep meeting
on the internet or in rest areas in public parks
since we meet elsewhere and get hurt and oh heaven
sometimes we gossip in church and sometimes we ask the
uncomfortable questions and direct questions or questions that get shit
done. And then a voice comes and refrain from
the pulpit dressed in a dry cleaned tie set just
below a wry forced smile. We just don't do
things that way here. Why should anyone in the
world let that phrase? We just don't do things
that way here work like an anesthetic. The very
phrase was actually the first quietest IQ lesson I was
told Within the first month I arrived here. Quietest
IQ sounds a bit like sadistic, doesn't it?
We just don't do things that way here. Well
, clear and disquiet. I do not always have
patience for that. Something of our history hinges on
disquieted in patients from time to time. I've had
years and years to try and undo the quietest IQ
tendencies that were reproduced in my mind. See it
feels queer just before I speak and then it feels
queer when I know someone hears the voice. I
used to try to keep to myself and I know
that some of the students, faculty and staff and
alumni all over this campus know all too well what
I've just tried to describe. So for the sake
of LGBTQ history month, let me just quiet some
of the history we share. Only some of what
I will tell you next actually happened and some of
what I tell you next could have happened 1978 the
year I was born in san Antonio texas. By
the way, students attempted to form the first gay
student group, gay student alliance at Virginia Tech,
but administration refused to recognize the organization and forbid them
to meet on campus and even use Virginia Tech facilities
. Students organized a letter writing campaign to alumni and
businesses to join in all VT boycott that got the
attention of national gay and lesbian activists who in turn
put pressure administration. By 1979, the Gay Student
Alliance dissolved under pressure from administration from some of the
student body. Following a denim day show of support
campaign, but only mentally deterred community members found ways
to fundraise to bring in community organizers who helped them
in strategies for movement building and coalition building or maybe
not. By 1984, Lambda Horizons, the predecessor
of the current LGBT reformed with the authorization of administration
, were again allowed to meet on campus. They
quickly set about an educational campaign to bring attention to
the rapid spread of a new virus, primarily targeting
men who have sex with men. Moreover, they
participated in broad, sweeping coalition building, including anti
racist, anti poverty and pro feminist movements, verging
pride, resulted in fostering broad and open campus discourse
surrounding the need to change policies to make them more
affirmative or maybe not 1991. The Board of Visitors
voted to include sexual orientation, the nondiscrimination policy.
Soon after the furnace, trans and gender diverse work
groups began to plan for the inclusion of gender identity
and gender expression in the nondiscrimination policy. Despite of
a lack of awareness on campus, they found broaden
encouraging support among faculty or maybe not That same year
. In 1991,λ Horizons held the first ever
national coming out day on the Wanted Henderson Hall.
Local television reporters covered the event and the camera captured
VT corps of cadets members, harassing participants, legislators
in the state, put Ernest pressure on the core
leadership to issue a formal apology and insist on basic
civility among members. In a town hall forum,
LGBT students and core members shared their accounts of what
happened that day and agreed to partner in planning an
annual ally building campaign or maybe not, 1994 requests
of lambda Horizons. The LGBT Caucus hosted a campus
speak out in the library plaza in honor of national
coming out Day. An unprecedented 500- 600 students
turned out for the event. Maybe not 1998.
The Safe Zone program was established as a collaborative effort
between the dean of students office, LGB caucus LGBT
A in the Office of Equity and affirmative action.
But the tide turned when anti LGBT protesters from off
campus began holding on campus demonstrations. Condemning this is
a simple corruption of young adults. Students held peaceful
demonstrations in response, raising the quality of conversations on
campus by including the first ever LGBT voices of Appalachia
. And soon after this blossomed into a regional community
outreach campaign that eventually included environmental activism, community outreach
and education projects in the intercultural community organizing among students
from urban and rural areas, or maybe not A
setback in 2000 when, for the first time,
staff at campus gyms and recreational facilities denied access to
families of LGBTQ employees as well as women who didn't
share their husbands last names. And efforts to address
this in conjunction with Women's Network are initially ignored by
the administration Faculty students held a 12 day sit and
embarrass hall outside the president's office. A delegation of
community members issued a formal request for professional development programs
for current new employees. By the end of the
sit ins, administrators supported a revised version of the
proposal, or maybe not. In 2002 of the
university hired 1st openly gay lesbian senior administrator, but
unfortunately, the board takes action to deny an academic
position to her partner. Initially, faculty organized teachings
to educate students about the detrimental consequences of workplace discrimination
, with growing pressure from anti LGBTQ organizations, off
campus administrators equivocate about challenging the decision. Students gain
the assistance of community organizers and hosting accountability sessions with
the board. In time, the board concedes to
the pressure and moves ahead with the decision to hire
the dean's partner. It always not secure the following
year. In 2003, the Board of Visitors Remove
Sexual Orientation from the Nondiscrimination Policy. Language is reinstated
after another series of town hall meetings. Just recently
in March 2010, the State Attorney General issued a
letter claiming that Virginia's public colleges and universities could not
protect LGBT students and employees from discrimination. And what
can we do about this today? Nondiscrimination policy still
does not include gender identity and expression. And what
can we say about this today? LGBTQ employees still
do not have all sorts of legally available benefits for
their partners and families. And how might we in
silence this? Have our communities made peace with indigenous
communities on whose land we now live? We've got
to do something about that. So what do we
do? What do we do with the queer disquiet
activism, scholarship, event planning, memorial runs cheering
at football games, something important and far bigger than
queer pride happened. As part of the movements that
began to surge in the 19 nineties. These movements
around the country catalyzed into coalition work against racism and
tribalism against rape and sexual assault. On campuses where
Korea movements rose up and thrived. There also arose
movements for reconsidering body dysmorphia movements against poverty and for
immigrant rights. Clear movements have in many places helped
to bolster new waves of emancipatory thought, but don't
get me wrong, Queer movement still fall prey to
white, supremacist, capitalist, transphobic, patriarchal imperialism
. And queer has also helped to make interventions against
those very same problems. My own alma mater,
I cannot learn so much. I like so many
others had to look outside the academy for the skills
, mentoring and knowledge to do something different than to
figure out new ways of staying quiet, if not
for organizations like the Midwest Academy, United States Student
association Oregon Student Association, National Black Justice Coalition,
National Conference of Community and Justice would hold Freedom Foundation
. I would have stayed quiet, but I want
you to notice something consistently. Most of the people
in these organizations I had met came from campuses where
queer pride uprisings had altered the status quo. They
came from schools in Wisconsin, Maryland, texas,
Oregon, California, Washington, New Jersey and all
over. Some had never gone on to post secondary
education and some tried but couldn't endure their studies while
working as an activist. But for so many queer
movements altered their campuses and gave them away to disquiet
history. Here at Virginia Tech. I think we
have to consider some hard questions about quiet and uniformity
as a campus made of many communities. Does it
work here at Virginia Tech to act from queer disquiet
to go about clearing the classrooms in the drill field
in the labs. Do we get to go about
? An hushing ourselves? Do we get to cause
trouble and make ways due to the impatient nagging that
protects our dignity? What do we do with the
voice that sometimes doubts itself but also knows better when
everyone else goes along quietly with the usual flow?
What is the title of this talk call for us
? Can Virginia Tech pride it forward? It's a
really weird question. It puts together colloquialism of paying
it forward with the need for advising our feelings of
pride. Can we put forward our feelings of pride
in a way that disquiet and at the same time
honors what we have accomplished. What if queer never
happens here. Maybe a queer movement has never happened
here or maybe it has happened here in a way
that uniquely queers the quiet uniform. Maybe things do
work differently here in some form of queer movement has
infiltrated the seemingly transphobic and homophobic norms of the university
. Or maybe a queer movement of some kind or
another waits just around the corner, a simmering potential
awaiting a catalyst. I cannot say for sure.
But if we intend to take pride in LGBT and
queer history, I think we have to go out
on a limb and do some unusual things to unsettle
the questions. To imagine a Virginia tech that we
may yet bring about to make the history we want
to tell with pride that goes even beyond merely queer
and LGBT pride. Let me make one last thing
clear. We have plenty of what we need despite
the myths of scarcity, the false belief, we
do not have enough of what we need and the
voice is telling us that we do not have enough
resources. We really do at least enough to feasibly
get something started. We have the talent, we
have the energy, we have the allies and if
in some ways do not yet have what we need
. We at least have enough to start working for
it. Suppose we can make this place the number
one choice for LGBTQ and allied students and faculty in
the state in the region and in the nation.
Maybe we get to make a different history. What
if queer never happens here. I leave you with
that question and I return to where I began today
. I will have a difficult time keeping my voice
down. Thank you. Mhm. Mhm. Sure
. My pleasure. Thank you. Questions, reactions
a slide. You want to see again what they'll
come back around. Sure. Is aware. Mhm
. We're ready. Yeah. Are. Mhm.
Mhm. First. Yeah. Mm. Yeah.
Think they can help one of my, one of
my mentors, you know, somebody haven't spent a
lot of time with but the bits of time I've
spent with her an incredibly influential um Suzanne Far writes
about vision. If you could imagine the best of
all possible circumstances you think, what would this be
like if we had everything we need um you can
take some time to do that. You see that
You know, 15 years ago, 20 years ago
, events like this may not have happened. So
pay attention to the progress but also imagine what this
could look like and don't forget to do that vision
work. Yeah. And the the colloquialism don't rest
on your laurels. Is that what it is that
what it does? Yeah. Yeah, of course
. Well being read Yeah, remember. Mhm.
Yeah. Well right. Sure. Yeah, hang
around. Mhm. Even as much. Yeah.
Yeah. Person during Yeah. Here and we're sure
. So yeah. So I'm gonna I'm gonna give
some of the context first. Uh People who want
to do ally work, right? Some people have
motives to ally work, interesting, ally work.
Um We worry about our own biases. We worry
their ways to mess this up, particularly if we
don't come from a community, right? We don't
come from a community where we've grown up in the
circumstance and we share the circumstances. I think that
some of the context or some of the concerns and
then the question where can I go to get to
do something about this? Um So you've opened this
door for me, which is where I get to
respond and say I you know, here's here's what
I've seen work. Um I think we need to
educate students. I think we need to alter the
basic curriculum that students have to study. Not just
cultural diversity, but I think students also have to
study nondescript. So you have to basically study the
history of discrimination in some schools around the country.
Do this course work that requires them as part of
their core requirements to study the history of discrimination in
the context of the U. S. Not externalized
to some other country change. We actually change the
curriculum. Um We changed the job descriptions completely legal
to say we do not hire any senior administrator or
managerial personnel who hasn't shown a demonstrated commitment to social
justice or diversity completely legal if it's a priority.
Um But there's a skill set, right? So
those are some those are some environmental and institutional things
. There's a skill set whether we call it human
relations, facilitation or intercultural dialogue or community organizing actual
methodologies, tactics, skills strategies that people have been
working with for over a century now, at least
in the Western, industrialized world and much longer before
that, um, that help you learn to listen
, you learn to remain attentive to remain committed.
And so the mistake I think would be to hear
what I just said as something like a lofty gesture
at some cool values or ideologies. There are actual
skill sets and people who are trained and um in
the region who know how to teach these kinds of
skill sets and lessons. And then you have people
who can go out and do coalition work and do
human relations work and um retain some of the good
hearted worry about biases, but don't let it interfere
, it informs you would educate you, but it
doesn't hinder, it doesn't cause setbacks and so paralyzed
. Like he's a better term incapacitated with identity politics
that I can't act. I don't think we can't
do that. The skill sets we have options.
Gandhi spent a good deal of time in jail in
Johannesburg, learning these things, practicing these things figure
out how to teach these things, taught them to
king happen to each other. Bernice johnson Regan.
I will take you to Richmond into D. C
. And I will teach you to lobby. See
my full time job. I can help you make
posters. We have to want to do it.
Yeah josh. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah
. So how do we how do we get skill
sets without every one of us ditching our current careers
and going basically into the full life and it's a
it's an efficiency issue. Things I want to do
with my life and this this won't maybe this doesn't
work as a commitment, but jeez, I really
see why when you do this, it only takes
a few, certainly some of the thousands here would
have willingness to learn new skill sets and learn different
ways of doing things. Actually only takes a few
. Um one of the, one of the enduring
myths of what I consider a patriarchal bias around leadership
, that every one of us has to act as
a leader in the same way we act as catalysts
. We only need a few catalysts. Um the
rest of us show up from time to time and
pull the weight, but doesn't have to commit our
entire lives to it. Mhm. Are you at
the deterring myth? It's going to take every one
of us to go get the exact same skill set
and yeah, another hindering thing, like the identity
politics, right. Do we have, do we
have you know that these things called disorientation guides?
Some of these campuses that I have not referred to
by name, but I could get a bit more
specific, um, students actually got together in the
early 90s to create what are called disorientation guides.
They could not, on their conscience let the central
authorizing money sources, marketing, they couldn't let these
departments tell the history of the university in a way
that was disingenuous. And so they started creating disorientation
guides where it used oral history, the history gathered
by real students and alumni and they would produce these
and give these out to students. They still do
this in some places. Um, so that students
can come in with a, with a more comprehensive
history of the institution. Um instead of treating people
like they can't handle it or they won't, they
won't feel proud of being here if they know the
full scope of how things have gone well and gone
bad. And the disorientation guides include both successes and
traumas. Those are other things that kind of they
just sort of keep going. You can keep printing
those and handing them out. Um That's not the
way we do things here. I got told Month
one. Why not? Yeah, that's what I
wonder I don't want to say. Um I mean
because Yeah. Yeah. So what keeps us from
doing it anyway? Fear or ambition maybe that we
don't have enough catalyst to get us in the room
? There's there's the next talk brian, can I
have the room next week? You know what keeps
us from doing it anyway? If we if we
left now with that question hanging, I'd be fine
. Let's work on that question, Ally. No
. Mhm. Create your own way. I'm waiting
for others. Mm Instead of waiting for the LGBT
Community. Mhm. How I can help, you
know? Right. I found that I have to
go out and create it yourself. Think that I
would like to see it's time now can be.
But yeah, community to create a allies for safe
zone. Just not for dummies. But what I'm
saying, you know, like there. No.
Yeah. Thanks. Press that. You remote first
in this organization. I mean, I know I've
been doing. Mm. Mhm. Saw retirees.
Mhm. No. Yeah. How right on.
We need to be sure we're good with it.
Hi. Ask them about, do they have they
talk about? Yeah, nobody's ever. Of course
it was divine. You know, everything's good.
You're about three. It's an older generation. So
make sure everything's always and that's something that you do
when you're away from those Yeah, allies, they
are together. Wait here. I like the slot
. So first, with no permission to speak on
behalf of my communities. Thanks. So, but
thank you. The other thing is I want to
I want to clear this a bit. Uh,
some of some of the skill sets for queer activism
involved. Gift and invitation. Uh we can go
to communities with whom we share some interest, right
? Communities who endure some similar troubles, not the
same, but some similar troubles and offer to help
pick up their work and expect nothing in return.
At the at the initial point, I mean,
you can't you go and you make a gift,
You give it away, you make a contribution.
And in response to this question in doing that labour
together, I think we learn we unlearn the biases
. Um, and then the invitation um continue extending
an open invitation for people to continue making contributions.
Similar to the invitation. I think you extend when
you issue those kinds of questions. But I don't
think al I work. I don't think we can
do it one sided. I don't think we can
just say let's get more allies to back us.
I think we actually have to go out and make
an effortful contribution and just forgo the idea that we
may actually get anything in return. It's a gift
. That's what allies do. You give it up
? You make the contribution and yeah, come these
are good questions. Other thoughts. Yeah. Danny
. So as someone to new here. Mm very
much. Yeah. Mhm. Mm. Yeah.
When you in terms operations for student learning? Mm
We're mhm. I wish I had the poem with
me. I wish I had memorized it. Um
there's a poem circulate. You can find on the
internet is really few. So it's this visioning idea
. Um, so I wanna I wanna president who's
HIV positive. I want a president in a wheelchair
and talking about the President of United States. I
want a president who has um more than one partner
at the same time. I want a president who
um speaks five languages. You know, this idea
of um imagine imagine the people and the lives that
no one ever thought as the forefront of the institution
when they wrote those things and make a comparison when
you look at these aspirations for student learning. If
you put those sorts, if you sat down with
a group of people who radically disenfranchised and you said
, tell me what we should aspire to teaching students
, I can almost guarantee the list of aspirations for
student learning they make will not match that list.
There will be some overlap, but it's not going
to look the same. Um It'll get called radical
. We'll get downplayed. Um Cast standards familiar with
these. They're cast standards for cast standards for for
LGBTQ programs on campus. Um Those put those next
to the next to the aspirations for student learning and
notice notice the different priorities. Um Those are my
initial thoughts. Mhm. Ask the people who get
left out and then look at some of the work
that was already done to make similar aspirations, but
by communities who have been left out historically. So
, these are passive use of euphemism have been left
out. It's a bad euphemism. Who who Some
people excluded actively and unintentionally. Yeah. Yes.
But it seems like Yeah. Mhm. That doesn't
line. Mhm. Gotcha. We're hurrying. All
right. All right. So, the question how
do we queer courageous leadership? How do we inspire
courageous leadership when courageous leadership appears in the aspirations for
student learning uh whatever version when I hear when I
hear courage, I want to I want to clear
that like you're saying and think revolutionary, let me
let me think about this. Um let's do something
revolutionary, let's do something transformative. Get under that
, get under the skin of that. What actually
counts as revolutionary? I think revolutionary acts of the
kinds of things in which you um you act with
no guarantee you demonstrate the willingness to give up the
way things have always been with. No guarantee that
things are gonna get better, but the hope and
determination to make them better. That kind of revolutionary
courage. I don't think they had that in mind
. Maybe they did. But think about that,
imagine if somebody said to you from day one,
imagine that you could help make us this this place
, make it better, the number one place by
um letting go of the comfort, you have the
status quo, you have give up the way things
have, have worked and let me help you develop
a commitment to making it better. We have no
guarantee there. We're just going to try. I
think that differs from courage, but again, we
ask people who, some have excluded. I think
they would have a different story than I do and
we should listen to that. Sure. Yeah.
Thanks. Danny students at Radford asked me yesterday when
I was teaching, is there anything fun in this
class? Are happy? I said, no,
I'm trained as a philosopher. I don't really do
that. Um, but you'll get something right.
There's some joy in there. Um, I take
that as a take that as a provocation. You
need to calm down, maybe delivery. I mhm
Yes, I would get 85. Well. Hell
teacher. Okay. Yeah. Mm. Big board
with the event was what happened with the manager for
you. Mm And then of when you're hold it
. Mhm. And most in such a meeting I
think the proportion will be more with 10 we had
. Mhm Will be highly what to do with gay
identity in the public. I'm asking you not because
from the university where everyone has this color. four
out of five. Yeah. Funding. I wouldn't
however, both of them. Is there any organization
um curating creating achievement? The repository of history?
Uh sure. Yeah. Good question. Is there
an organization in the U. S. That the
acts as a curator? Uh sure, sure.
Is there such an organization? I may have to
pull from the That's a good question. We have
to pull from the knowledge in the room because the
Stonewall center, Stonewall center in new york. National
Black Justice Coalition, National gay and lesbian task force
in Human rights campaign have done history. But it's
funny. I can't think of the one like it
doesn't, it doesn't jump to mind. You know
, that's, that's an interesting provocation. Like gee
shouldn't, if we did have one, ought I
not know about this. Hey. And yeah,
I'll give you study about the need. Yes.
Okay. Okay. And when I've done the study
about, I think that any community needs to have
space, not a spiritual space, a real space
where they kill the part of their own health.
This is my, uh, to be militarized university
faith, which they regard even if they are sick
. Yes. For me and even ready to fight
. Mhm. While the damage studying stone, you
may be, you may be wondering actually this mm
location recognizes the heritage. Where is this again?
Okay. That one syllable center. Okay. Okay
. And he told me that he's afraid to put
aside. Okay. Okay. People coming all the
way from Israel this space because they painted, it's
against sight of what's supposed to be more into it
. We limit and let people and he says,
yes, I'm afraid Putin. So you as a
do certain ideological framework on the certain context of this
university. Why do you criticize? Yes. This
nation. Mhm. Doesn't know real. There is
another place where you can have culture, a real
we're maybe on the other floors, but not the
main floor. Yeah. Yeah. What a good
question. So why why criticizes university when our broader
national we don't, we don't have a national institution
. We don't we don't have an institution for the
integration. We've never had a desegregation integration institution in
this country right after the I'm just going to kind
of come back around your question right after the end
of the Civil War there was briefly an institution that
that was you know, task to do some integration
work. But that was just radically destroyed very quickly
. Um We have all their all sorts of institutions
but as as an act of liberation. And so
this this comes out of latin american thought and liberation
as an act of liberation. Uh sweep your own
front porch first I sweep sweep your own front porch
first. This is where I work. This is
the place. I'm going to look at the ground
on which I live first and that right that one
part does not do all the work I need to
criticize here because I live here, right? But
I also I also have some need to get to
D. C. In Manhattan and ask some other
questions. Like I rely on creating change or uh
or national gay and lesbian task force. I rely
on some of these organizations do this work. But
I mean when I when I hear what you just
said I think gee I should lobby them for this
people who allegedly represent the communities to which I belong
off and on I should lobby them to help me
out with this. I don't know that's my reaction
. I have to think more about that actually what's
called grass. Mhm. Yes. Many members sure
. Mhm. And can you know. Yeah.
The fight. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah buddy.
You very good chances to make mm mm We should
think about this right on. Thank you. Yeah
please. No. Right. Yeah l like true
. Mhm. Mhm. But yeah quarter of my
actually it's not. Mhm. Thank you harry mm
. In my political identity. Every community okay on
the mall in D. C. Like on the
national mall. I'm curious what you have in mind
like like when you go when you when you go
down the mall in D. C. The museums
, the heritage sites something of the earth. The
thank you. Mhm. I can give you many
examples all over the europe which made I can give
an example where for a tree Uh three will be
playing based on my service would be very in Israel
. There is a major museums and we take all
the communities right 13 Which when to do with the
G. Flag can cause people like yourself and the
airplane and go over there and identify with it and
feel as a community while here in the city.
I wonder. I don't know you have all these
this parent is all over the city. You still
wanna with the gate. I I don't know get
I have not seen one. There was an image
of one in here. But yeah, no,
I've not seen one. Yeah. Deal with Sure
. I guess we have to we have to also
follow the good example of taking youth to these sites
. Right? This happens in parts of the world
where this is part of your actually, one of
my colleagues comes from Germany and at the risk of
interrogating him a bit. I said, I I
just I'm really curious, don't feel like the ISIS
. But did you grow up with a comprehensive education
about the history of the holocaust? And he said
, oh yes, we did. And they took
us as Children to the sites, it was part
of the educational process. And I thought g what
, you know, what kind of what kind of
work can we do there? Yeah, I'm with
you. Right, on Ghani, at that point
, as an educator, somebody works specifically with Christine
to identify it's a constant battle, not only for
this generation, but older generations to consider ourselves cool
. Yeah, we don't do that. We don't
speak of our so four, and I think that
is to start about ourselves. Oh, here,
think there's power in that word. Um but mm
, weirdness per say, maybe this is a extremely
sense of what it is. I think it is
the five. Bye founders. Maybe that's hard.
Mr Mhm. That's just sure, maybe, maybe
um I want to pluralized that. I mean,
we have we have cultures, you know, we
don't we probably don't get to a monoculture, but
we have culture. So I just want to pluralized
that, you know, um queer some of that
. I don't open open question um about cultures.
Sure. Other thoughts. Yeah. What is it
space out someone system. Same want to talk about
. Um I was having some but you also realized
feel like lot of times of state only somewhat provincial
eyes not becoming almost like tokenism, expression of yes
and then we can leave another could. Yeah.
What's the worry? Um You too have a share
in our heritage site. You'll have to put on
a certain kind of uniform or you're not putting your
form but then you can show up, check in
and and ditch. Yeah. Things could go that
way. Don't have to right. I mean part
of skill set I talk about respond to cory.
They don't have to. Mhm. Great little.
Mm hmm. Mhm. No. Yeah. Mhm
immediate opportunities. Uh so I was taught after wrestling
with the disquiet and then having to figure out,
I was only gonna get some of the pieces from
school going out to these organizations that then trained me
. I was taught, you have to think of
every immediate opportunity in terms of a long term movement
. You can't, you can't do, you can't
separate them. Um I was also taught, never
go to a meeting without a sign up sheet.
You never go to a meeting with a sign up
sheet and you never go without somebody prepared to invite
people to contribute. And that's I think would take
people on campus getting together and saying, what's the
invitation we want to extend? If we're gonna take
sign up sheets for people to join on or at
least join some kind of list serve. Um,
figure out what invitation will get people to know.
The immediate opportunities I think involved just generally the long
term, So immediate opportunity invite people to join in
the conversation. Long term movement building. Long term
capacity building. That's the first um, should not
go without saying when we're in the process of hiring
a senior administrator, we probably can come up collectively
with all of you would have to agree actually,
just don't have to agree. We can come up
with all sorts of questions, provocative questions, clear
questions, uncomfortable questions and for posterity. The questions
have been asked those, those to jump out.
Um, oh, how I wish I had more
influence to change the undergraduate curriculum. If our students
had to study as part of the core requirement,
we said it was a priority that they had to
study the history of institutional discrimination in this country,
perspective on power and difference and discrimination. If we
had to do that, those are the things that
students learn would require the rest of us to behave
differently. They would start asking us to develop things
that meet their needs. Does that make some sense
? That's a, that's not an immediate opportunity.
But um, so I'll confess I came from a
school where that was a requirement. Great title reply
. But sure you all know better than I do
. I'm supposed to write and defended dissertation. I'll
you all know better. You say I'll show up
like and you say I'll show up. I'll say
the hard things. I'll say them with some respect
. But I'll say the hard things put me up
there. I don't know. I have to learn
from you. I don't know who they are.
There's some mysteries and cloaks up in the tower.
Mm. Or maybe they're in for Moyer. I
don't know where they are. I don't know them
. You might um, I will say within within
a short time I did take the I did take
the change in the curriculum idea to some senior administrators
. Even gave them as a gift a copy of
the book. That chronology Eyes is the different work
that these programs have done around the country, different
universities. And I was thanked for the book and
politely told to have a nice day sits on the
shelf that person in the office. I'm sure it's
never been cracked. Mhm. So I tried a
little. I'm ready. I can help with that
part. Yeah of course. What um it's called
teaching for change. Last name of the primary editors
. X. I N. G. Getting tells
the story of Oregon State University's development of what's called
the difference power and discrimination requirement. As a core
requirement where they actually paid faculty to teach the courses
and they paid them to learn how to teach the
courses and then other schools around the country. If
you started picking this requirement up, you teach when
you teach the least advantaged, freshest minds to ask
the uncomfortable questions, the rest of us probably then
have to do something with it. Like I could
go and I can say I need a new president
or I need a new staff member administrator do this
. But frankly, if students start working together differently
, if they start setting the expectation that administrators and
staff and faculty have to behave differently and create some
different things we can work. There is the top
down doesn't have to be the only way to do
it. Mhm. The students are working together in
ways they've never worked before. They will ask for
something different than what they've asked for before. Doesn't
have to come from the top down Danny. Wonder
about correct. Okay. Does that make the conversation
, Does it take off? Yeah. Is the
issue Williams? Like it's in college to start having
these conversations. I know we're here setting of higher
education. However me, it would seem like if
there was some way started the earlier. Sure.
Right. Just concerns me that then it's only people
with access higher. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Um Let me let me find the one that I
like. Um I like this one a lot.
Only some people got to do this, right?
I mean you say drag it out in the open
. Only some people get to do that. Some
people and we want to classes. One thing you
talk about poverty classes, one thing poverty, you
add that in. Only some people get to do
it. Um Some people get to drag it out
in the open. Yeah, we have to have
that conversation. Do we have the resources to empower
people or do their circumstances uh require that we have
to do the best work we can on their behalf
, worrying about the biases and making apologies and we
screwed up when somebody comes back and says, don't
rescue me, we respect that. Mhm. But
it's a land grant institution, land grant public institution
when it's an interest in um the liberal and technical
education of the population of the state. I like
clearing the land grant mission four H gets along with
us, don't they? I don't know. Excellent
question. I've talked about it. You also give
a talk like this and you see the facial expressions
of the audience. Mm let's try to evoke some
smiles. Good, every few. Yeah. Yesterday
As one of our later events this month on the
30th, we're doing paragraph 75. Yeah, we're
wondering with the little do that. And yesterday I
was talking the young lady who is going to be
posting the discussion afterwards. I'm going to be doing
an intro or somebody tell the history and station program
and then I spent quite a bit of time uh
huh. And we were actually talking about how we
bring that. Do we bring the holocaust today?
Because she was talking about a lot of her peers
who were raised here in the US, you know
, alcoholic. But it was primarily from a jewish
perspective. They didn't necessarily look at all the other
groups get get oh how multiple groups were treated,
okay, okay, her community. And it wasn't
just choose who were in the holocaust, but there
were all these other groups who were also persecuted in
that and I know that, you know, in
particular, LGBT was the very last group to even
be acknowledged by german people. Still, there have
been no reparations too damn versus other groups there.
She was thinking about this and I'm interested to see
what question she comes up with. Hopefully you all
come and see what questions that comes up with you
, but she wants to bring that to today.
You know, one of the things we all said
afterwards, we don't want this to happen again.
But what does that mean today? And that's kind
of her thought process and kind of goes along with
what we're talking about here. You know, we
all say we don't want this to happen again,
but what does that actually mean? What do we
do to make sure that happen? Anti LGBTQ apartheid
continues to happen all over the world right now.
You know, I'm gonna wind around. It troubles
me greatly that in some countries of the world we
know it's happening and we ignore it. But then
it happens in places like Russia with lighter skin,
lots of people with lighter skin and we pay really
close attention to it there and place in the world
where skin gets darker. We don't pay as close
attention to it. That troubles me a lot.
Um What would you see as a need? What
do you think we need to do? I mean
, there's a heritage site right there is this idea
of reparations and heritage site. What do you see
you do? LGBT History? I'm throwing it back
to you. That's what I've been sitting here thinking
about him. Really sure. I mean, do
we don't we do oral oral history really well here
, don't we? Like I stopped that sentence,
that, don't we do oral and then like there's
somebody on top of the way, where is he
going? Um don't we do like storytelling and oral
history and narrative pretty well at Virginia Tech. Isn't
that a thing that some people here do? Mhm
. Yeah. Well, if we do that,
well, there's a place that's a resource. I'm
very think, I mean when I got involved with
kind of brought up history, oh wow, we
actually have a history and people were like, what
is our history? You know, it was amazing
how many people just didn't know. And even like
Daniel was saying sorry about, but you know,
we're not talk, you know, most other heritages
or groups, but because the way we sit within
society, we're not brought up with this kind of
information. It's not yes, greatly emphasised in any
history books or anything. And so you're kind of
thrown in it at a point. You're basically a
sink or swim kind of situation. And most people
are like, ok, I don't really care what
happened in the past. I just want to survive
, you know, forward and at some point,
hopefully they get to it and say, where did
this, you know, what, what did this
outcome? Yeah. Look for me. Face.
Yeah. Right on. We don't have I mean
, I was very impressive with LGBT History month started
by a high school teacher. He said we need
this. Uh huh. The reason we haven't because
he said we need to teach these kids about LGBT
s. And then when it got too big for
him, he handed it over national group and help
proliferated. But it was one person. It was
it was that it wasn't a top down, it
wasn't Ukrainian government organization that said, all we need
is different. A catalyst, a quote. People
don't make their own history, Sorry, They'll do
the right people make their own histories, but they
do not make them out of nothing. They make
them out of the conditions given from the past.
Paraphrase Karl Marx, it's on camera, who is
still something, I'm supposed to swear off as us
citizen to get a visa um, or Santayana and
those who do not know their history going to repeat
it. Although I think this has been mis attributed
to Santayana, I'm not sure. Um, yeah
, what the labor involved, not just ideological,
just knowing something the labor involved in in when you
understand historical circumstances that preceded you, that changes what
we can do, we can we can do something
with this. Although now I'm now I'm talking with
some anxiety because somebody's in here doing doing memory.
So let me have to have to differ. You
know there's some conversation here maybe maybe now that now
that we're a little over an hour, one or
two more questions. Yeah we were to have what
journalism or would it what would actually happen? Maybe
that's the problem. Yeah. Yeah sure. See
if we can get it right in that chapel.
Uh huh Right there right in the chapel or out
front? Oh let's see let's give it a try
. Um Or like like you can have like some
rainbows but it'll be in some sort of like wedding
dress will be fine, this will be fun,
something a tuxedo um Maybe partnering artistic part already create
. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah or you know are
statues of the statues, not just the whole keyboard
part of that, statues of figures who historically made
possible this conversation Right. I mean the things like
the hokie bird matter but also adding in having on
the walls, the reminders that, um, we
do what we do on the shoulders of people who
took a lot of risks. So yeah, I'm
cool with it. I'll show up. I'll also
gladly sit with the people who are like, why
are you putting that in the chapel? Um,
Yeah, please. And then Danny. So I
guess the last two comments and then yeah, they
player your company's shoot and those skins. Think about
what how just for the sake of the exam in
the big memorial building Germany about the only people that
were murdered in the whole process. A decision was
made until we found the right Plastic, the right
nine, the right material to make the stuff.
Because one has to think what happened the day after
where people were decided provocative peter or to use the
spray to rocky. So those things that you mentioned
where those are things are supposed to man can do
research should be done where to put it in such
a way benefit and it's a question who will benefit
and how rather than you will say okay. And
we'll discuss this in the day after yeah, destroyed
in the day after two kids were being even here
talk they were recognized game questions about that. When
we build once days we have to unite. Yes
for this they will argue and what I find hi
, you know, mhm some extent ST yeah modern
culture. The next okay if you have in mind
and you say, okay we have one suspect who
have their own tribe will be your tribe will be
presented. Their air tribe will be presented enough yes
comments and getting settled through grass and okay. Really
about them. The evolution of the heritage, of
the christian heritage, of the jewish every heritage,
there is always this debate country, we're not from
the same line, we are actually formed, not
from the same community and actually you cause me to
think about, I'm asking you community that how Yeah
. Yeah. Okay. And do you really have
Oh and only after and it's not necessary, you're
supposed to maybe the elite well design because somebody hear
me, they leave it rich. Yeah, we've
felt correct resources. Things like these can have tremendous
importance. Mhm. I don't know what if I
want to just create my Children to let them know
there are games where people moving up, so where
I'm coming from. Just one example, there is
a game, of course we got to get a
forest. Mr it's well known that. Mhm.
It's always getting bigger and bigger because can make people
go and plan their trips and other common health.
Yeah. And always think my jubilee and they have
a chance to socialize gay men and listen what whatever
whoever and not necessarily on the big parade with the
huge music and and people with underwear. Fair enough
. I understand you should of this, but for
me it's much easier to the forest, it's next
to and I want to associate to the holocaust four
. Yeah. Can't we do both? I can't
I can't I help with the long sort of winded
pleasant conversation about a rainbow hokie bird while also doing
subversive things. I can't I can't I like I'm
gonna I'm gonna stick some minor rainbow keyboards all over
the place. Like I don't I actually think I
want to take a question. I think we have
to do both. I think we have to have
the subversive acts along with the play along acts.
It's like it's like, well you work more conservatively
and you work more radically. We well as an
administrator and this is what I would teach people and
I would teach them lobbying and organizing. Um let
me use that against you. We have to do
multi. We have to use multiple approaches, right
? We can't eliminate the relationship. So yeah.
Cool. Cool. Tagged him Danny. And I
think this will be the last comment for today.
Make it good Danny. I think that okay,
well, after your heart is that we have direct
Mhm. Difference. Use the start patient, please
. I think that's an important conversation to have.
There's a reason why we has these certain people are
. But how do we then start to This is
really great. Talking about our commonality. Talking about
. Yeah. Yeah. Start. Yeah. Can
answer turns out subject of my dissertation what I refer
gently as solidarity. I think we have to talk
about what happens when people relate. I don't think
identity and recognition all the things and commonality and difference
have actually served us too well. Those are part
of the conversation. But until we get down to
some some conceptions ideas thinking communication about what happens when
we relate. Like you can spend a lot of
time defining what relates to find the subject to find
the identity. Talk about commonalities and differences. Identity
. We also have to talk what happens when people
relate. So, I'm gonna take out the the
connectedness word, take out the spatial connotation and say
, what are we talking about when we talk about
connectedness relationship? Not just identity is not just difference
, not just recognition, can do some of that
, but about relationships. I'll just that that's that's
that's the part I want to help add. So
, I mean, what I think, right,
hi, it takes on different shapes the most.
I'm thinking that site. Mhm. How do we
start to rest? Hmm. How it started?
Mhm. P. M. Mind. Heart.
I it turns out I can feel vulnerable working with
you even though I don't understand you fully. I
might just end up a little bit different than when
I started out and I have to live with that
. I'll be okay on that note. Thank you
again, everyone for coming. Appreciate it. That's
a strange.