To ensure access to resources at the conference, we have coordinated a free HIV testing clinic. This resource is being provided by the Knox County Health Department, as they have acquired a grant for prevention programs provided for statistically higher risk communities. We encourage all interested attendees to utilize this free resource.
If you'd like to check your HIV status, simply drop into this clinic anytime during the open hours. No appointment or pre-registration is required. The testing being used at this clinic involves a slight prick of the finger, and results will be available in roughly 15 minutes.
In your conference tote bag, you'll also find additional information about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to encourage discussions about HIV prevention in your respective communities.
Finally, the Knox County Health Department has information about a number of other public health programs and services that they provide, including LGBTQ+ smoking cessation programs and STI testing. This information is also available at the clinic.
Latinx Identities and Sexuality/Queerness with Virginia Kane and Gerry Calles, Samuel Mather Hall 202
(Invisible Album) with Emma Reasoner, Samuel Mather Hall 306
Moving Beyond Welcome: Creating an Affirming Religious Community with Jess Kotnour and Rachel Kessler, Samuel Mather Hall 215
Re-Envisioning LGBT Rights in Africa: Concerning the Role of Queer Theory in International Relations with Youssouf Bellamy, Hayes Hall 215
Exploring Polyamory and Non-Monogamy with Hailey Greenhalgh, Hayes Hall 109
Safe BDSM and Kink Practices with Grace Harris, Hayes Hall 109
Embodying Queer Spaces with Will(ow) Green, Hayes Hall 215
Safe BDSM and Kink Practices with Grace Harris, Hayes Hall 109
Pigs and Umbrellas: Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Theory Reflected in Trump's Transgender Policy with Carissa Cunningham, Samuel Mather Hall 306
X, the Invisible Group: A Presentation on Asexuality with Micah Smith and Nyandeng Juag, Samuel Mather Hall 202
Our keynote address will be delivered by Sa'ed Atshan (he/him) of Swarthmore College, and his address will center around the importance and impact of queer and trans studies in today's sociopolitical climate.
Atshan is an assistant professor of peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College. He previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. He earned a joint Ph.D. in anthropology and middle eastern studies and an M.A. in social anthropology from Harvard University, and a Master in Public Policy (MPP) from the Harvard Kennedy School. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore in 2006. His research interests are at the intersection of peace and conflict studies, the anthropology of policy, critical development studies and gender and sexuality studies. He has two forthcoming books with Stanford University Press: "Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique"
and "Paradoxes of Humanitarianism: The Social Life of Aid in the Palestinian Territories."
Additionally, Atshan has been awarded multiple graduate fellowships, including from the Open Society Foundations, National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Woodrow Wilson National Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. He is also the recipient of a Soros Fellowship and a Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace. He has worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, Human Rights Watch, Seeds of Peace, the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department, and the Government of Dubai. He is Quaker, grew up in Palestine and is an LGBTQ rights activist. Atshan serves on the board of the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality, a Beirut-based organization that supports LGBTQ populations across the Middle East/North Africa region.
To ensure access to resources at the conference, we have coordinated a free gender and/or name change clinic. This resource is being provided by Equitas Health and TransOhio, who facilitate legal clinics across the state of Ohio. We encourage all interested attendees to utilize this free resource.
If you'd like to update your name and/or gender marker on state and/or federal documents, simply drop into this clinic anytime during the open hours, as no appointment or pre-registration is needed.
The amount of time needed to complete this process is dependent upon everyone's individual situation, and we will have multiple attorneys volunteering their time to assist with as many people as possible.
TransOhio also has information about scholarship opportunities to assist with the associated costs of updating your name and/or gender on various state and/or federal documents.
Navigating Queer Language in the Medical Sphere with Clair Kronk, Samuel Mather Hall 202
Dying to See You with Masen Colucci, Samuel Mather Hall 306
Roll for Gender: Exploring and Re-Inserting Queerness into Fantasy through Dungeons and Dragons with Cat March, Samuel Mather Hall 215
Teaching the AIDS Crisis Through Historical Roleplaying with Bella Pori, Hayes Hall 215
Navigating Clothing as a Trans/GNC Person with Drew Gillum and Dakota Sturgill, Hayes Hall 109
Transgender Researchers and Improving Self-Care with Hailey Greenhalgh, Samuel Mather Hall 202
Queer and Trans Voices with Armiya "A" Shaikh and Maria "Ria" Peteet, Samuel Mather Hall 215
Interpretation of Statistics in the LGBTQ Community with Micah Fisher, Samuel Mather Hall 306
Transgender Researchers and Improving Self-Care with Hailey Greenhalgh, Samuel Mather Hall 202
Prior to attending the closing/general meet-up, attendees, who self-identify as queer and/or trans femme people, have an opportunity to network with other attendees who also share that identity.
A loosely structured meet-up session is available in the Crozier Center for Women, and the purpose is to ensure that meaningful intra-community connections are made for our attendees who self-identify as queer and/or trans femme people.
A conference volunteer, who also shares this identity, will be present to assist with the maintenance of this space.
Light refreshments will be provided, courtesy of the Crozier Center for Women.
Note: This meet-up is reserved for people who self-identify as queer and/or trans femme individuals. Other attendees, who do not share this identity, are asked to respect this designated space and attend the closing/general meet-up during this time.
Prior to attending the closing/general meet-up, attendees, who self-identify as queer and/or trans people of color, have an opportunity to network with other attendees who also share that identity.
A loosely structured meet-up session is available in Unity House, and the purpose is to ensure that meaningful intra-community connections are made for our attendees who self-identify as queer and/or trans people of color.
A conference volunteer, who also shares this identity, will be present to assist with the maintenance of this space.
Light refreshments will be provided, courtesy of Unity House.
Note: This meet-up is reserved for people who self-identify as queer and/or trans people of color. Other attendees, who do not share this identity, are asked to respect this designated space and attend the closing/general meet-up during this time.
To conclude the conference, we hope that you will attend this final gathering/meet-up. At this event, you can network with both new and existing peers, while also sharing information and insights that you gained throughout the day.
At this meet-up, the Gund Gallery has graciously extended the hours of their exhibition spaces, so that conference attendees can enjoy the spring semester's shows. Each of these shows comments on masculinity and its impact on social and historical issues.
The Gund Gallery will also have staff members available to assist conference attendees with making a mock protest poster, which will then be displayed in the installation at the front of the gallery.
Light refreshments will be provided, courtesy of the Gund Gallery.
Content warning: Some pieces in the gallery make reference to gender-based and/or racialized violence and oppression. Each gallery entrance has been marked with content warnings.
Our conference organizing committee consists of the following representatives from Kenyon:
Listed in alphabetical order, our conference presenters include the following:
Youssouf Bellamy (he/him) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Connecticut and adjunct faculty member at Eastern Connecticut State University. His work is interdisciplinary in scope, and relatedly, he cherishes the ability to use his intersectional identity (queer, black and Muslim) to engage others through relatability and understanding.
Gerry Calles (they/them and he/him) is a first year student at Kenyon College.
Masen Colucci (he/him) is a film major and English minor at Kenyon College, and he hopes to pursue a career in film or digital content post-graduation.
Carissa Cunningham (she/her) is a doctoral student in political science at Rutgers University. She recently completed her undergraduate degree in political science at Arizona State University in 2017. Her research interests include female combatants in freedom fighter or terrorist organizations, feminism as it relates to political studies, and homeless youth in Pheonix, Arizona.
Micah Fisher (he/him) is a junior math major at Kenyon. He is a resident of Kenyon's LGBTQ+ house, Unity House, and he co-leads the student-run Gender Group on campus. In his free time, he acts as social chair of the men's rugby team.
Drew Gillum (they/them) is a sophomore Music Education major at Wright State University. They are
nonbinary, queer, and transmasculine. They are also an executive board member of WSU's Rainbow Alliance.
Willow Green (they/them) is a English w/Creative Writing and Dance double major at Kenyon College. They are interested in creating healing collaborative work that engages with self-exploration and communal identities.
Hailey B. Greenhalgh (they/them) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Dept. of Political Science and a graduate teaching assistant in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at the University of Connecticut. Their research centers on transgender human rights, transgender violence, polyamory, self-care in research, and long-distance relationships.
Grace Harris (they/them) is a first generation junior in Russian area studies, sociology, and women's and gender studies at Kenyon College. They are also a co-manager for Unity House.
Nyandeng Juag (she/her) is a first year student at Kenyon College, and she identifies as asexual. Nyandeng is from Augusta, Georgia.
Virginia Kane (she/her) is a first year student at Kenyon.
Rachel Kessler (she/her) is the chaplain at Kenyon and priest-in-charge at Harcourt Parish in Gambier, Ohio.
Jess Kotnour (they/them) is a senior at Kenyon and a member of Harcourt Parish's vestry. They are discerning a call to the diaconate in the Episcopal Church and volunteer with Church Clarity.
Clair Kronk (she/her) is a trans woman and a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical informatics at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests are diverse, but her current work focuses on the connection between language in medicine, technology (electronic health records), and social determinants of health (SDOH).
Cat March (they/them) is a senior English and Women's and Gender Studies double major at
Kenyon College. They're a current co-leader of Gender Group and a founding member of Kenyon's Transgender Subcommittee. When they're not DM-ing, Cat can be found reading/writing poetry, chilling with their guinea pigs, and re-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Maria “Ria” Peteet (she/her), of Kenyon , is a trans poet from Atlanta. She uses her poetry to try to understand her ownership over her home and her home’s ownership over her.
Bella Pori (she/her) is a law student and game designer in Brooklyn, New York. She utilizes historical immersion and the pedagogy of "reacting to the past" to teach about queer history and the intersection of gay rights and the government.
Emma Reasoner (she/her) is a current MFA candidate at Ohio University's program in photography and integrated media. She received her bachelor's degree in political science from Denison University in 2015. Reasoner engages text, image, and fiber art to describe interior queer worlds between women/femmes.
Armiya "A" Shaikh (she/her), of Kenyon College, is a queer-non binary immigrant who splits her time between her love for numbers and poetry.
Micah Smith (they/them) is a first year student at Kenyon College, and they identify as asexual. Micah is from Chicago.
Dakota Sturgill (he/him) is a senior Classics major at Wright State University. He is a plus-sized, pansexual trans man. He is also an executive board member of WSU's Rainbow Alliance.
Hanne William-Baron (she/her) is a senior at Oberlin College studying comparative American studies and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies. Hanne is particularly interested in fat embodiment and the somatics of trauma. Her work has been published in UCLA's Graphite Journal and the Wilder Voice Press, among others.
This conference was organized by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Our campus co-sponsors include: the Asian and Middle East Studies Program; the Cox Health and Counseling Center; the Crozier Center for Women; the Diversity Advisors; Gender Group; the Gund Gallery; the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee; the Office of Student Accessibility Services; the Office of Student Engagement; Queer Masculinities Society; Unity House; and the Women's and Gender Studies Program.
Funding for this conference was provided in-part by the Kenyon College Community Development Fund and the Student LGBTQ+ Diversity Fund.
Our community co-sponsors, who are providing services, support, and/or other contributions to this conference and its attendees include: Knox County Health Department, Global Protection Corp., TransOhio, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, ONE, Equality Ohio, Equitas Health, the Newark Ohio Pride Coalition, Gilead, gc2b, Fluide Makeup, TomboyX, Harrington Park Press.
This presentation shows information, from a variety of psychological sources, on the Latinx queer intersection ranging from topics such as immigration, HIV status, mental health, and the youth. This presentation also features a variety of quotes from Kenyon students to emphasize the importance of Latinx queer identities in the greater community, as well as in our own.
Sororities promise and demand a degree of intimacy between women that exceeds the bounds of “normal friends," but, under compulsory heterosexuality, sororal structures promote fictive kinship and de-eroticize intimacy between "sisters." Using autobiographical voice, this lecture will combine text and image to describe love between women as it takes a multiplicity of forms and blurs the lines between platonic, romantic, and familial modes.
Although religious spaces often claim to be welcoming, the LGBTQ community is often excluded. Over the past year, Harcourt Parish, an Episcopal congregation in Gambier, adopted a statement of welcoming and affirmation to the LGBTQ community. We will share the process that the parish went through and offer insights as to how the parish is living into their commitment.
In order to examine a broader assumption of queer rights advocacy as a Western province, we will examine the relationship between colonial policy and religion in the cases of Senegal and Uganda’s same-sex criminalization, discuss portrayals of African lives wrestling with the dilemma of living authentically in intolerant spaces, and seek to understand how narratives and their mediums can inspire a re-envisioning of
LGBT rights in non-Western contexts.
Queer individuals are statistically more likely to be interested and open to polyamory and non-monagamy than their cisgender-straight peers, but for many people, the relationship style is new and unfamiliar. This will be a safe space for those who might be questioning or just starting to claim the identity. There will be an overview of terms (as the amount of them can sometimes be overwhelming), tips and tricks, and an open space for discussion and questions.
In this workshop, attendees can learn how to safely engage in BDSM practices, while being mindful of health and affirmative consent. Physical and psychological safety will be discussed, as kink can be physical, psychological, or both. Topics will include: scene navigation, safeword usage, bondage, impact play (i.e. spanking, etc.), and breath play. Expect a lively and practical discussion about safe kink and BDSM practices.
For a community whose bodies are treated as radical, feeling embodied is a radical act. Coming out of accessible dance practices and collaborative storytelling, this mindfulness workshop will offer an opportunity to engage with creative prompts that encourage self-exploration and expression. We will make space for ourselves, inside and out.
Transgender rights are under attack under the Trump administration, and yet, there is little international outcry. I will argue that transgender people have not organized on the international level, because they are written out of UN documents due to 'strategic' concessions rooted in distinctly feminist arguments over the identity of 'women.' The Trump administration is responding to feminist debates about the category 'women,' and this session will explore this topic as well.
The Kinsey Scale identifies the population that experiences "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" as 'X' at the bottom of the graph. This 'X’, around 1-2% of the population, represents people who identify as asexual, but identifying as ace shouldn’t put a box around one’s orientation. We will discuss how every asexual (ace) or a-spec (on the asexual spectrum) person has a unique experience, while also offering insights about the language around those experiences.
Encompassing past, present, and future treatment of LGBTQIA+ individuals in healthcare, this workshop presentation will discuss the development of the gender, sex, and sexual orientation (GSSO) controlled vocabulary. Important points will include LGBTQIA+ education for medical professionals, preservation and awareness of the discrimination and pathologization endured, and the evolving intimate relationship that terminology shares with the LGBTQIA+ community.
Dying to See You is a short film written and directed by Masen Colucci; the film centers around a young man, who returns to his hometown to attend the funeral that his mother is holding for him. This presentation will include a screening of the film, followed by a Q&A and discussion about trans* representation in the television and film. Finally, this workshop will conclude with a discussion of why it's important to cast trans* actors.
Come talk about the endless possibilities within D&D! By creating campaigns and characters, you create a space for you and your friends to exist and explore safely, in a world free of hetero/cisnormativity. The ultimate goal of trans/queer D&D is to give trans and queer people the opportunity to envision themselves as heroes in a fantasy landscape, and this workshop will discuss the importance of queer and trans representation in these gaming spaces.
Using primary source texts, role-playing, strategy, and elements of tabletop gaming, students can put themselves in the historical moment of the AIDS crisis from 1982 to 1985. We will explore how taking on the roles of people who have actually lived allows us to invest in and retain the complicated elements of history. We will also overview Reacting to the Past and studies that show the power of game-based learning.
Finding clothes that fit properly is a major hurdle that many trans and GNC folks face. Clothes made with cisgender bodies in mind often do not come in the size range that accommodate trans bodies and needs. Brands that cater to trans and GNC bodies often come with inaccessible price tags. We will discuss both the difficulties facing and resources available to trans and GNC folks, who are trying to find clothes that fit them, their gender expression, and their style.
Within-community research is common among queer academics and is important to further academic discourse, but it can be incredibly taxing on the researcher’s self. This is especially true for research focusing on physical and sexual violence, the political environment, human rights, healthcare, youth, and more. This workshop introduces self-care tools to improve mental health while researching topics related to one's own identity.
This session will involve a reading that showcases queer and trans student poets. Come join us for a glimpse into what queerness and transness looks like at Kenyon College and learn more about these experiences through a creative lens. There will a short question and answer session afterward. A reading list of some quintessential queer and trans writers will be available for those wishing to hear and learn more about this intersection outside of the Kenyon College community.
Where do the numbers we know about trans suicide attempts actually come from? What communities are most at risk? How can we learn more about queer and trans communities and the struggles they face? This talk will go over data collection methods for the study of LGBTQ people, examine the limitations inherent in them, focus in on the misconceptions about our community, and explore how to deepen our knowledge in the future.