On Friday, October 3, 2017, BU Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism (CGSA) celebrated its 9th anniversary. For nine years, the CGSA has been a “resource center that strives to give voice to institutionally marginalized groups through an intersectional approach to activism and education.”
I chatted with Lindsay Child, Accessibility Coordinator of the CGSA, about her work at the CGSA, her life at BU, and the amazing events organized by the CGSA.
Hi Lindsay! Who are you and how did you become BU CGSA Accessibility Coordinator?
Lindsay: I’m a Junior and a major in Deaf Studies. I am the Accessibility Coordinator of the CGSA. We have a coordinator board that keeps this place running. We support a lot of activist groups that meet in this place [the CGSA is located in the basement of the GSU]. I do a lot of different things, but my main goal is to keep this place accessible and welcoming to all members of the BU community and especially for disabled students.
How did you get involved with the CGSA in the first place?
I started coming to “Q” [BU Queer Activist Collective, one of the students groups hosted by the CGSA] during my freshman year. Then halfway through fall of sophomore year, an older student asked me if I would like to run for one of the e-board positions. I was really surprised! I had not really thought about it, but I really like this place and wanted to be more involved, so I went with their suggestion!
So tonight you are celebrating the 9th anniversary of the CGSA?
In October, we had the 9th birthday of the CGSA as it is now. What’s really interesting is that the Center has a lot of history behind it. BU has had a Women’s Center for a long time, but it eventually died out. In 2008, students wanted to bring back the Women’s Center because they wasn’t one on campus. The CGSA was built on the history of the Women’s Center but the volunteers wanted to focus on all kind of activism [the CGSA hosts seven different groups and an online magazine].
Do you think that most students on campus know about the CGSA?
No, definitely not! I met other upperclassmen and even other people in the LGBTQ community that didn’t know that we have a CGSA on campus. We are not advertised very much. We’re also on the back of the basement of the GSU, so you really have to know where it is to find it! You often hear about it from someone who already goes there.
I remember that you hosted a karaoke night in the CGSA during orientation and I overheard some people saying: “oh that’s the gay club.” How do you feel about this?
It is true that we are the main space for LGBTQ students on campus. There are smaller clubs focusing on LGBTQ issues on campus like Questrom Spectrum. But if you aren’t in those groups, the CGSA is the only space available. We have to put so much energy into being the “gay organization on campus,” because in a way we are, or at least we are the largest! We have to prioritize LGBTQ activism because, besides us, we don’t have much on campus. The Center is completely volunteer run and student-staffed. It gives so many students leadership roles and opportunities but it also a lot of work.
You talked about “The Gayla,” is it kind of a “Gay Prom?”
It is a dance that we hold around Valentine’s Day. It originally started as a celebration of the first anniversary of the SCOTUS decision on marriage equality, but we want to keep doing it. It’s a great opportunity for people to come with whichever date they want, to wear whatever clothes they’d like to wear and, more generally, to do things that they might not have been able to do at their High School Prom. We invited other students from the Boston area. That’s a very fun event for community interaction! We also co-host events with other clubs. Last month we held a panel with UMOJA (BU Black Student Union) about “Feminism, Womanism, and the Struggle for Equality Within the Black Community.” It was really successful!
Another great event that you held this semester was “Drag on Fire.”
Yes, it was a drag show fundraiser. We worked with a club within the CGSA, which is the Trans Listening Circle that support trans* and non-binary students on campus. The president of the club, Evan, wanted to host a drag show to give more visibility and awareness to trans* students on campus and as a fundraiser for this really cool youth shelter called Youth on Fire in Cambridge. We also partnered with the Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who did some amazing performances.
Let’s talk about the “raising awareness” part of this event. Do you think that it worked, meaning that students outside of the LGBTQ community attended the event?
That’s a good question! I did see people from a lot of different places. There were some students from BU on Broadway who performed songs from the musical Cabaret and brought a lot of their friends. Potentially, some of the drag queens from BU also brought their friends. I definitely think there was a variety of students who attended. We want to do it again next year and advertise more to get students outside of the CGSA to come. Some of the students who came and might have some familiarity with LGBT community in terms of gay people wouldn’t know many trans people. So that could definitely have made a difference!
How successful was it in terms of fundraising?
It was really successful! We were able to donate around $1,200 to Youth on Fire so that they can continue their amazing work supporting homeless and street-involved youth. When we planned this fundraiser, the organization had risk of closing at the end of the calendar year. However, right before the fundraiser, they found out that they would get some limited funding to stay open with shortened hours for another year. So, the money we raised can help so much! It’s an amazing organization and I’m so glad that BU was able to help them.