UIC celebrates LGBTQ+ History Month

The UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People and Gender and Sexuality Center are excited to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month throughout October.

First celebrated in 1994, it was declared a national history month by former President Barack Obama in 2009. LGBTQ+ History Month is a monthlong annual observance of LGBTQ+ history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. LGBTQ+ History Month provides role models, builds community and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.

The LGBTQ+ student planning committee has selected “OUTOBER” as this year’s theme and would like to bring attention to the following dates and events:

• Wednesday, Oct. 11 – National Coming Out Day.
  • First celebrated in the United States in 1988, National Coming Out Day emphasizes the most basic form of LGBTQ+ activism: coming out and living life openly as your true self.
• Wednesday, Oct. 18 – International Pronouns Day.
  • International Pronouns Day’s purpose is to make asking, sharing and respecting personal pronouns commonplace.
• Thursday, Oct. 19 – Pride in UIC Business.
  • 4:30-6 p.m., White Oak Room, Student Center East.
• Friday, Oct. 20 – Sparky’s Drag Race.
  • 7-9 p.m., Illinois Room, Student Center East.
• Wednesday, Oct. 25 – LGBTQ+ Student Organization Expo.
  • 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Student Center East Concourse.
• Friday, Oct. 27 – Horror Kiki Ball.
  • 6-11 p.m., Illinois Room, Student Center East.

In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, the chancellor’s committee is excited to announce that it has renamed its undergraduate and graduate student scholarships in memory of Elise Malary, a 2016 UIC alumna and an LGBTQ+ activist. She was a Chicago Therapy Collective board member and co-founder of Hire Trans Now. A much-loved member of the community, Malary began her work with LGBTQ+ organizations while she was a student at UIC. She was extremely passionate about advancing social justice for the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC community, especially trans people of color. Malary’s life was tragically cut short in March 2022.

It is important to remember that, though things have improved, the LGBTQ+ community still faces violence and discrimination. The ACLU is currently tracking 496 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the United States. Many include prohibiting gender-affirming health care to transgender youth. Please visit Lambda Legal or Transgender Law Center to learn more. The chancellor’s committee encourages all UIC community members to become allies and learn more about LGBTQ+ people. We reinforce our commitment to greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals at UIC with the following resources:

• UIC Gender and Sexuality Center.
  • The GSC promotes deeply engaged and life-affirming thinking, learning and action with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. Through programs, initiatives, events and workshops, the GSC creates a more inclusive campus and catalyzes positive social change in the world. Underlying the center’s work is an understanding of intersecting identities and the multiple layers of diversity within LGBTQIA+ identities.
• UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People.
  • Established in 1991, the committee’s mission is to promote the academic, cultural, professional and social welfare of the LGBTQ+ community at UIC.
• All-gender restrooms.
• UIC Bias Reporting Tool: bias reporting and prevention.
• UI Health LGBTQ+ Inclusive Care.