Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity at Penn State showed “Memories of a Penitent Heart” on Oct. 4 in the Foster Auditorium to educate about and celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month.

October is LGBTQ+ History Month, and CSGD is hosting events throughout the month to celebrate. Events are set to include group discussions, trivia, a pride flag craft and other activities all to learn about the history of the LGBTQ+ community.

There will also be celebrations for National Coming Out Day and International Pronouns Day later this month.

Antra Gupta, a third-year majoring in enterprise technology who works for the center, said “We do these things so that students find a common place where they feel safe, they feel included, they feel represented.”

The first event this month was a screening of the documentary “Memories of a Penitent Heart,” which follows the story of a queer man in the 1980s who died of AIDS.

When asked about why this specific film was chosen, the center’s assistant director, Kate Rawson, spoke about bringing awareness to the challenges that members of the LGBTQ+ community have faced historically.

“Students today, whether they are in the LGBTQ community or not, maybe don’t realize all the challenges that queer people faced during that time period,” Rawson said.

Another aspect of the movie that Rawson highlighted was the ties between not only LGBTQ+ History but also Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

On the significance of this, Rawson said “I think learning that part of our history in terms of the LGBTQ community and then also thinking about you know more intentionally what are the impacts across different racial and ethnic communities and cultures as well.”

The goal of the CSGD is to create a safe and inclusive environment for students of all backgrounds and identities.

For more information about CSGD and a full schedule of this month’s events, visit https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/csgd.

Hannah Fredrich is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email hrf5140@psu.edu.