The 17th annual Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference

(MBLGTACC) took place on the weekend of Friday, Feb. 22 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It advertises itself as an event “created by students for students” with a mission to “educate our attendees on the issues that affect us most and empower the Midwestern LGBTQA student community with the knowledge and enthusiasm to strive for change through the political process.” The conference serves college students from a region that stretches from the Dakotas to Kentucky.

The weekend is one of social, professional and political networking, among other things, and the whole conference centers around a theme that highlights an issue of current and vital interest within the community. This year’s theme was “Voting for Change: Liberty and Justice for All.” As the conference website explains: “while this phrase stands for the ideal in America, it does not represent the everyday reality of LGBTQA persons in this country.”

The conference program put a lot of emphasis on achieving change through the political process, a logical choice for an election year. The programs for the weekend contained letters of welcome and support from officials at each level of the state government, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Human Rights Campaign were both active sponsors of the event.

In the recent tradition of such high profile events as the Academy Awards, this year’s MBLGTACC went green. This decision was explained as such: “The planning committee for the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference acknowledges the important connection between social justice and environmental sustainability.”

The Monmouth College student organization PRISM (People Respecting Individual Sexuality at Monmouth) organized and funded a trip to the MBLGTACC. Through fundraising and with the assistance of the Associated Students of Monmouth College (ASMC), PRISM managed to cover the expenses of approximately seventeen students and two faculty members. Senior Kim Brassfield, president of PRISM, credits the hard work of her executive board with the success of the trip. She says, “a lot of the organizers and people from other organizations were impressed with the turnout from MC. We had more people than some of the larger state schools, which have thousands of students.”

The event didn’t disappoint in quantity or variety of activities; students were treated to at least a hundred different workshops, as well as a career fair, musical and theatrical performances, panel discussions and featured presenters. Senior Sarah Youngs said, “There were a lot of different workshops that we could attend on anything from how to be a better activist, to how to make our organization better, to safe sex being fun sex. Another great aspect was the way were able to make contacts in the LGBTA community that can help us bring more information to the campus community.” 

Activist, author and educator Angela Davis was probably the best known of the three keynote speakers. Davis presented on the subject of “Gender Inclusive Policies on College and University Campuses.” Eric Alva was also a keynote speaker. He was the first U.S. soldier wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and, since his retirement from the Marine Corps (and after 13 years of service), he now speaks out publicly against the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

T.J. Jourian replaced transgender activist and high-ranking member of the Workers World Party Leslie Feinberg on the program after Feinberg was sidelined by illness. Jourian was one of four college students featured in the 2005 Sundance docuseries, “Transgeneration,” and is a vocal advocate for GLBT rights.

Robyn Ochs was one of two featured presenters at the conference, and she was a familiar face to a number of the Monmouth students. Last semester, Ochs paid a visit to Monmouth College and spoke on the subject of “Creating a Welcoming Environment for GLBTQQIA Students.”

Reactions to the conference were overwhelmingly enthusiastic and positive. Brassfield is already looking forward to next year’s event.  She said, “I plan on attending the next one on my own after graduation.  The conference next year will be at the University of Indiana-Bloomington, and the topic of the conference will be “Living Out Loud.”

Janeve West, assistant professor of communication and theater arts (CATA) and faculty advisor to PRISM, said the of the event: “in this time of change, where every single vote will count, it is great to see so many young people focused on the civil rights of all, not just some.” However, there are exceptions to every positive, and it should be noted that someone has been removing PRISM posters from billboards around campus. These individuals should recognize the insensitivity of their actions and, out of respect for their peers, stop this immediately.

PRISM will be hosting the Day of Silence/Night of Noise on April 25, and t-shirt sign-up is coming soon. Brassfield addresses the campus, telling her fellow students to “be looking for some more amazing things from PRISM, because now I and my execs are armed with ideas!”    

PRISM meets every other Tuesday at 4 pm in the Tartan Room of the Stockdale Center. Everyone is welcome.

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