An LGBTQIA+ history exhibit at Texas A&M is now open to the public to view historical pieces as well as personal stories.
âComing Out Together to Share our History: LGBTQIA+ Collections in College Station, Houston, and Beyondâ will be displayed at the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives until Dec. 16, according to a press release from Texas A&M University Libraries.
The exhibit will feature pieces from The Banner Project and paraphernalia from the Houston bar Maryâs, along with other showcases.
âCushing Library has drawn from their extensive LGBTQIA+ collections to add memorabilia from various LGBTQIA+ events like the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, a copy of The Intersexes, the first English language defense of the LGBTQIA+ community and other materials from their various LGBTQIA+ collections,â the press release reads.
On May 27, former Interim President John Junkins released a progress report summarizing the university’s ongoing activities to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion at Texas A&M.
Editorâs Note: This story highlights sensitive issues and may contain triggering content.
An anonymous hotline run by LGBTQ+ Aggies in the 1970s and 80s paved the way for the pride that we see on campus today.
Six years after the Stonewall riots, a handful of gay and lesbian Aggies founded Gay Student Services, or GSS, a social organization which became the first explicitly gay student organization at Texas A&M. To do this and support other gay students, GSS started the âGayline,â an anonymous referral hotline that connected callers to everything from affirming health sevices to local gay bars. Former students from two generations of GSS said the Gayline did more than kick off a high-profile court case; it provided a support system and safe havens for an acute minority of A&Mâs student body.