10/15/09 Civil Dialogues and GLBT Communities panel discussion set for Oct. 22

A panel discussion titled “Civil Dialogues and Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Communities” is set for Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009, at 5:30 pm, in Koldus 111. The event, funded by a Civil Dialogues grant from the College of Liberal Arts, will focus on the intersection of sexual and gender identities with other identities (e.g., racial, religious, and class identities), how to best address conflicts that arise around identity issues, and how GLBT communities can best negotiate these conflicts.

Panelists slated to participate are Phyllis Randolph Frye ’70, partner at the Frye and Cantú Law Firm in Houston, Dr. Dianne Kraft (Diversity Education and Curriculum Specialist, Department of Multicultural Services at Texas A&M University) and Ms. Danielle Pool (an undergraduate student at Texas A&M).

Frye is considered the “grandmother” of the national transgender legal and political movement. Recently, the Department of Multicultural Services and Aggie Allies recognized her contributions to diversity by establishing the Phyllis Randolph Frye Advocacy Award, which is awarded to a leading individual or organization working for the advancement of GLBT civil rights at the infrastructural and/or interpersonal level.

On the panel, Frye will address the resistances to and eventual acceptance of transgender people and perspectives within the larger gay community and how she has used civil dialogue in her activism, especially as she has worked to educate gay, lesbian, and bisexual populations about transgender issues.

Kraft will address the significance of civil discourse to our campus community and beyond, and Pool will discuss her experiences as a transgender student at Texas A&M.

“Civil Dialogues and GLBT Communities” is part of the College of Liberal Arts Civil Dialogue initiative at Texas A&M University. The initiative’s purpose is to foster the ability of Texas A&M faculty, staff, and students to engage difference in today’s multicultural globalized society through civil dialogue.

For more information on this event, please contact Lowell Kane, GLBT Resource Center Coordinator, 979-862-8920 or LowellK@studentlife.tamu.edu.

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