Narrating a New Normal

Twelve students from Hamline’s organization, Spectrum, attended the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Allies College Conference,  or MBLGTACC, held in Normal, Illinois on Feb. 13-15. Students from Spectrum applied for the conference in December.  The conference is the largest LGBTQIA conference in the United States, and about three thousand people attended.  The conference, held at Illinois State University,  opened with a message from the university president reading a letter from President Obama.  Laverne Cox, a transgender woman of color best known for her role on Orange Is The New Black, was the keynote speaker.  Students filled the auditorium to hear words of wisdom about being a successful student as well as how to navigate the world as an LGBTQIA person.

Saturday was a day of learning, where students were able to attend workshops with other students to learn more about other identities, including learning how to use sign language with specific LGBTQIA signs.  There were support groups for every type of identity and participants were able to make friends and network with students and educators all over the United States. On Saturday afternoon, there was a resource fair, with graduate programs from Illinois and Michigan, as well as resources for combatting bullying, which is an issue that LGBTQIA people face.

The theme of the conference was Narrating a New Normal.  Students and educators learned how to navigate the world as well as how to tell our own stories.  Saturday night’s entertainment was a spoken word poet, Kit Yan,  a trans man of color, as well as a drag show, hosted by Bianca Del Rio, the first Hispanic drag queen to win RuPaul’s Drag Race.  The drag show had college students from all over the United States participating.  There was also a dance on Saturday night that ended the day’s events.  Sunday had two workshop sessions, six total, and a keynote speaker, as well as the closing ceremonies.  Wherever you fit on the LGBTQIA spectrum, you had a place at MBLGTACC, with spaces designated for each member of the community. Students were able to network, and have fun, meet new friends, and feel valued in their identities.