Speakers, performers headline LGBT Awareness Month

The month of April will bring five major guest speakers and performers to NIU as part of the university's annual celebration of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Awareness Month. Headlining the month are gender activist Nomy Lamm, author Alice Hom, renowned scholar John D'Emilio, performers About Face Youth Theatre and educator Dan Woog.

The month of events also will include an open house for the new Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center at NIU, the seventh annual drag and variety show, a poetry night, the ninth annual Eychaner Award Dinner Banquet and an LGBT Formal.

The month kicks off Tuesday, April 1, with Nomy Lamm's presentation "Body Anarchy: Prescriptions for Personal Revolution" at 8 p.m. in Holmes Student Center room 305. Lamm describes herself as "performance artist, writer and activist." She has written for magazines and anthologies including MS., Seventeen, "Listen Up," "Body Outlaws" and "Sex and Single Girls."

She was named one of MS. magazine's 1997 "Women of the Year" and, in 2000, she was one of Out magazine's "Out 100." Her multi-media presentations cover topics of queer, fat and gender politics and identity and community.

On Thursday, April 3, author and scholar Hom will present "Q&A: Queer in Asian America," which also is the title of her 1998 book.

Hom is the director of the Intercultural Community Center at Occidental College in California. Her talks link academic arenas to community-based activism as she addresses racism, sexism, homophobia, Asian American feminism, lesbian of color organizing and Asian American lesbian and gay cultural activism.

She is published in numerous anthologies including "The Very Inside: An Anthology of Writing by Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women." She's recipient of the 2000 LACE Award for Grass Roots Activism by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

She will be available to meet informally with anyone interested from 3 to 4 p.m. in Holmes Student Center 706. Her lecture takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Holmes Student Center 405.

Nationally known scholar and author John D'Emilio will read from his new book "The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10 in the Holmes Student Center Heritage Room. D'Emilio looks at the events in the late 20th century that changed attitudes and perceptions about the LGBT community during the 1990s and into the present day.

D'Emilio is a professor of history and is currently chair of the Gender and Women's
Studies Program at University of Illinois at Chicago. His previous publications include "Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities," "Intimate Matters," "Making Trouble: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and the University," and "Creating Change: Sexuality, Public Policy, and Civil Rights."

About Face Youth Theatre brings its moving performances "First Breath" and "On the Down Low" to the Holmes Student Center Diversions Lounge at 7 p.m. Monday, April 14. This acclaimed theatre project explores the true stories and experiences of Chicago-area lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning youth and their allies, crafting their stories into productions performed by the youth themselves.

Woog is a teacher, award-winning soccer coach, and author of 13 books, including "Jocks: True Stories of America's Gay Male Athletes," "School's Out: The Impact of Gay and Lesbian Issues on America's Schools" and "Friends and Family: True Stories of Gay America's Straight Allies."

He will visit NIU on Monday, April 28, to make several presentations, including a brown bag lunch discussion at noon in the Holmes Student Center Blackhawk Cafeteria and a workshop (time and location TBA). His main event for the day will be a lecture, "The Impact of Gay and Lesbian Issues in American Schools," presented at 8 p.m. in Holmes Student Center Heritage Room.

For additional information or for a complete schedule of events, contact the LGBT Resource Center at 753-5428, via e-mail at lgbt@niu.edu or visit the Resource Center's Web site at www.niu.edu/lgbt.

3-31-2003