CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies

Last updated
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies
Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies logo.jpg
CLAGS Board.jpg
CLAGS board and staff at 25th Anniversary Conference
AbbreviationCLAGS
Formation1991
Founder Martin Duberman
Type NGO
Purposeto provide a platform for intellectual leadership in addressing issues that affect lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, and queer individuals and other sexual and gender minorities
Location
Official language
English
Website www.clags.org

CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies (formerly known as Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies or CLAGS) [1] [2] was founded in 1991 by professor Martin Duberman as the first university-based research center in the United States dedicated to the study of historical, cultural, and political issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and communities[ citation needed ]. Housed at the Graduate Center, CUNY, CLAGS sponsors public programs and conferences, offers fellowships to individual scholars, and functions as a conduit of information. [2] It also serves as a national center for the promotion of scholarship that fosters social change. [1]

Contents

The center is located at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, in New York City. Past executive directors include Martin Duberman, Alissa Solomon, Jill Dolan, Paisley Currah, Sarah Chinn, James Wilson, and Kevin Nadal. Nadal was the first person of color to hold the Executive Director role. The current Executive Director is Justin Brown. [3] [4]

CLAGS also provides scholarships and fellowships to members of the LGBTQ community. Some awards include the Robert Giard fellowship for visual arts (photography and videography), the Sylvia Rivera award for best paper in Transgender Studies, the Kessler Award for lifetime contributions to LGBTQ Studies, and the José Esteban Muñoz Award for activism. [5]

History

CLAGS was founded by Martin Duberman, a professor of History at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Many CLAGS founders claim that initial conversations about a research institute on lesbian and gay people began in Duberman's living room in 1985. [6] [7]

Martin Duberman, CLAGS Founder, speaking at CLAGS 25th Anniversary Conference on March 4, 2016 Duberman CLAGS.jpg
Martin Duberman, CLAGS Founder, speaking at CLAGS 25th Anniversary Conference on March 4, 2016

In 1986, Duberman described how there was an increase in literature and research on lesbian and gay people. "My aim was political as well as intellectual: I felt that lesbian and gay scholars had much to tell the mainstream world about gender and sexuality and that their findings needed to be widely disseminated, not least as a way to contest right-wing propaganda about homosexuality as degenerate and criminal." [1] Duberman also described the intentionality of gender parity, in that they attempted to ensure that both lesbian women and gay men were included in the leadership and membership of the center. [1]

In 2004, Jonathan Ned Katz founded OutHistory, a website dedicated to documenting and preserving LGBTQ history. [8] Funding was received by the Arcus Foundation, which enabled CLAGS to develop and host the site. Eventually, John D'Emilio redesigned the site and housed it at University of Illinois at Chicago [9]

In 2014, CLAGS was renamed CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies, in an effort to be inclusive of all sexualities and genders - in addition to just lesbians and gay men. [10]

Kevin Nadal and Janet Mock at CLAGS 2015 Munoz Award NadalMock.jpg
Kevin Nadal and Janet Mock at CLAGS 2015 Munoz Award

That same year, CLAGS founded the LGBTQ Scholars of Color network, which aims to connect and advance LGBTQ people of color in academia, scholarship, and research. [2] The inaugural LGBTQ Scholars of Color Conference gathered 200 attendees at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. [11]

In 2016, CLAGS celebrated their 25th anniversary at the CUNY Graduate Center with a conference that reunited its Founders and past executive directors, as well as a celebration at New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. [12] Women's Studies Quarterly highlighted the history of CLAGS in their issue on Queer Methods, featuring reflections by founder Martin Duberman, [1] former Executive Director Jill Dolan, [13] and then Executive Director Kevin Nadal. [2]

Kessler Award

CLAGS' most prestigious award is the annual Kessler Award, which is given to an individual who has contributed significantly to LGBTQ Studies. [14] Past winners of the Kessler Award include: Joan Nestle, Martin Duberman, Susan Stryker, Judith Butler, Jonathan Ned Katz, Cathy J. Cohen, Edmund White, Barbara Smith, Cheryl Clarke, Richard Fung, Sarah Schulman, Gayle Rubin, John D'Emilio, Urvashi Vaid, Monique Wittig, Samuel R. Delany, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Cherríe Moraga, Isaac Julien, Adrienne Rich, Douglas Crimp, and Carole Vance [14] [15] In 2016, the Kessler winner was Dean Spade, whose talk was titled "When We Win We Lose: Mainstreaming and the Redistribution of Respectability". [16]


Munoz Award

José Esteban Muñoz was a Professor of Cultural Studies and Queer Studies at New York University. He was also a board member of CLAGS in the early 2000s. When Munoz died unexpectedly in 2013, CLAGS created the Munoz Award in honor of an LGBTQ activist who has promoted LGBTQ Studies in their own work. The recipient of the award engages in a public conversation with the CLAGS executive director on topics related to LGBTQ communities.

The 2016 CLAGS Munoz Award featuring a conversation with Kevin Nadal and Jose Antonio Vargas Nadal-Vargas.jpg
The 2016 CLAGS Munoz Award featuring a conversation with Kevin Nadal and Jose Antonio Vargas

In 2015, CLAGS presented its inaugural Munoz Award to Janet Mock. In this conversation, Mock discussed her new book Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More , the increase of murders of transgender women of color, and intersectional identities. [11]

In 2016, the award was given to Jose Antonio Vargas. [17] The event took place just nine days after the Orlando nightclub shooting at the Pulse nightclub. In addition to the tragedy, Nadal and Vargas discussed issues related to immigration, race, and social justice. [18]

The 2017 Munoz Award winners were Wilson Cruz, Frenchie Davis, and Nathan Lee Graham. [19]

Conferences

CLAGS hosts at least one conference a year, focusing on a range of topics like "Lesbians in the 1970s" to "Gay American History". In 2015, CLAGS hosted the first Queers and Comics conference. The keynote speaker were Alison Bechdel and Howard Cruse. [20]

Panel at CLAGS 25th Anniversary Conference, with Matt Brim, Yana Calou, Darnell L. Moore, and Jessie Daniels CLAGS panel.jpg
Panel at CLAGS 25th Anniversary Conference, with Matt Brim, Yana Calou, Darnell L. Moore, and Jessie Daniels

One of the CLAGS early conferences was held in 1995. It was titled "Lesbian and Gay History", and Susan Stryker discussed her experience the conference as a reference point of the climate of the LGBT community during the early transgender movement. [21]

The first LGBTQ Scholars of Color National Conference was in 2015. Keynote speakers of the inaugural conference include Geena Rocero, Tania Israel, and David Malebranche. The conference was coordinated by Kevin Nadal and Debra Joy Perez.

In 2016, CLAGS hosted the "After Marriage" conference, a gathering of hundreds to discuss the state of LGBTQ communities after Obergefell v. Hodges , the 2015 Supreme Court of the United States decision which legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. [22] [23] Speakers included Steven Thrasher, Urvashi Vaid, Amber L. Hollibaugh, and Jennicet Gutiérrez. [22] [24]

Seminars in the City

The "Seminars in the City" series was created in the late 1990s as a way of offering Queer Studies to the general public. Historically, these seminars have been taught by professors affiliated with CLAGS, and these were initially held at A Different Light bookstore in Chelsea. [13] Topics have included "Lesbian Lives, Theories, and Herstories"; "Queer Sex Work in the City"; and "Bringing Queer to the K-12 Classroom". [25]

Related Research Articles

Frenchie Davis Musical artist

Franchell "Frenchie" Davis is an American Broadway performer and a soul, dance/electronica, and pop singer. She came to public attention in 2003 as a contestant on the singing competition show American Idol. Davis began performing in Rent on Broadway soon afterward, and was a member of the cast for four years. In 2011, Davis reached the top 8 on the first season of singing competition The Voice.

José Esteban Muñoz Cuban American academic (1967-2013)

José Esteban Muñoz was a Cuban American academic in the fields of performance studies, visual culture, queer theory, cultural studies, and critical theory. His first book, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (1999) examines the performance, activism, and survival of queer people of color through the optics of performance studies. His second book, Cruising Utopia: the Then and There of Queer Futurity, was published by NYU Press in 2009. Muñoz was Professor in, and former Chair of, the Department of Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Muñoz was the recipient of the Duke Endowment Fellowship (1989) and the Penn State University Fellowship (1997). He was also affiliated with the Modern Language Association, American Studies Association, and the College Art Association.

Robyn Ochs

Robyn Ochs is an American bisexual activist, professional speaker, and workshop leader. Her primary fields of interest are gender, sexuality, identity, and coalition building. She is the editor of the Bisexual Resource Guide, Bi Women Quarterly, and the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World. Ochs, along with Professor Herukhuti, co-edited the anthology Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men.

LGBT themes in horror fiction refers to sexuality in horror fiction that can often focus on LGBTQ+ characters and themes within various forms of media. It may deal with characters who are coded as or who are openly LGBTQ+, or it may deal with themes or plots that are specific to gender and sexual minorities. Depending on when it was made, it may contain open statements of gender variance, sexuality, same-sex sexual imagery, same-sex love or affection or simply a sensibility that has special meaning to LGBTQ+ people.

Martin Bauml Duberman is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Herbert Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City.

Mabel Hampton American activist, dancer, philanthropist (1902–1989)

Mabel Hampton was an American lesbian activist, a dancer during the Harlem Renaissance, and a volunteer for both black and lesbian/gay organizations.

National LGBTQ+ Bar Association American bar association

The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, formerly the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and the National LGBT Bar Association, is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender legal organizations. It was formally founded in 1989 and became an official affiliate of the American Bar Association in 1992. The association is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and its current executive director is D’Arcy Kemnitz.

Kevin Nadal American writer

Kevin Nadal is an author, activist, comedian, and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is a researcher and expert on the effects of microaggressions on racial/ ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people.

Paisley Currah Political scientist and author

Paisley Currah is political scientist and author, known for his work on the transgender rights movement. His book, Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity examines the politics of sex classification in the United States. He is a professor of political science and women's and gender studies at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was born in Ontario, Canada, received a B.A. from Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario and an M.A and Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. He lives in Brooklyn.

OutHistory

OutHistory.org is a website about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and heterosexual history, and, more generally, gender and sexual history. OutHistory.org comprises elements of an almanac, archive, article, bibliography, book, encyclopedia, library, and museum.

Nathan Lee Graham American actor and singer (born 1968)

Nathan Lee Graham is an American actor and singer. His roles in feature film include Todd in Zoolander and Zoolander 2, Frederick Montana in Sweet Home Alabama, Geoff in Hitch, Bernard on the Fox comedy series LA to Vegas, and François in the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. He has appeared in independent films including Confessions of an Action Star, Bad Actress and Trophy Kids. On the small screen he originated the role of Peter in The Comeback, and had guest starring roles on Scrubs, Absolutely Fabulous and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Susan Stryker LGBT professor, historian, author, and filmmaker

Susan O'Neal Stryker is an American professor, historian, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is Professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, and founder of the Transgender Studies Initiative at the University of Arizona, and is currently on leave while holding an appointment as Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women's Leadership at Mills College. Stryker serves on the Advisory Council of METI and the Advisory Board of the Digital Transgender Archive. A transgender woman, she is the author of several books about LGBT history and culture.

National LGBTQ Task Force US gay rights organization

The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports action and activism on behalf of LGBTQ people and advances a progressive vision of liberation. Leadership includes executive director Rea Carey and deputy executive director Kierra Johnson.

Kara Tucina Olidge, Ph.D. is a scholar, arts and educational administrator and the executive director of the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. The Amistad Research Center is the nation's oldest, largest and most comprehensive independent archive specializing in the history of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Prior to this position, she was the deputy director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a branch of the New York Public Library based in Harlem. The Schomburg is one of the world's leading research facilities dedicated to the history of the African diaspora. Prior to joining the Schomburg in 2012, Olidge was the director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a nonprofit organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in Newark, NJ. Olidge specializes in art and educational administration and leadership and has led educational institutions and community-based organizations.

Filipino American LGBT Studies is a field of studies that focus on the issues met by people at the intersection of Filipino American and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities.

Drago Renteria Transgender man

Dragonsani "Drago" Renteria is a deaf Chicano transgender man, CEO of DeafVision, and long-time resident of San Francisco.

Che Gossett is a trans femme writer, and archivist. They have written extensively on black and trans visibility, black trans aesthetics, racial capitalism, and queer, trans and black radicalism, resistance and abolition. Their writing has been published in Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility,Death and Other Penalties: Continental Philosophers on Prisons and Capital Punishment, Transgender Studies Reader, The Scholar & Feminist Online,Los Angeles Review of Books, and Frieze. Gossett has lectured and performed at The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum and A.I.R. Gallery. They are currently an archivist at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. They received their Doctorate in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University in 2021.

The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall dedicated to LGBTQ “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes”. Unveiled at the Stonewall Inn in June 2019, as part of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the installation is located within the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history in the United States.

Dr. Kim Fountain is Chief Operating Officer of the Center on Halsted, the Midwest's largest LGBTQ+ community center, located in Chicago, Illinois. She was previously Executive Director of the Pride Center of Vermont and Associate Director of Education & Public Advocacy for the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Fountain has served on the New York State Crime Victims Board and is a trainer for the Office of Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' Reports Committee. She serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Duberman, Martin. "The First Ten Years". Muse.jhu.edu.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nadal, Kevin. "The Intersection of Queer Theory and Empirical Methods: Visions for CLAGS, the Center for LGBTQ Studies". Muse.jhu.edu.
  3. ↑ "CLAGS 25th Anniversary Conference – CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies". Clags.org. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Letter from CLAGS Outgoing Director". Campaign.r20.constantcontact.com.
  5. ↑ "CLAGS' Fellowships and Awards". Clags.org.
  6. ↑ Dolan, Jill (31 May 2001). Geographies of Learning: Theory and Practice, Activism and Performance. ISBN   9780819564689.
  7. ↑ Duberman, Martin (7 May 2013). The Martin Duberman Reader: The Essential Historical, Biographical, and Autobiographical Writings. New Press, The. ISBN   9781595588906 . Retrieved 28 November 2018– via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Chan, Sewell. "Police Records Document Start of Stonewall Uprising". Cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  9. ↑ "About OutHistory". Outhistory.org. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Announcing the Renaming of CLAGS". Drive.google.com.
  11. 1 2 "CLAGS Annual Report 2014-2015" (PDF). Clags.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  12. ↑ Nadal, Kevin. "Why Queer and Trans Studies are Important". M.huffpost.com.
  13. 1 2 Dolan, Jill. "Transitions, Tensions, Trade-Offs: CLAGS from 1996–1999". Muse.jhu.edu.
  14. 1 2 "Description of CLAGS Annual Kessler Award". Clags.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  15. ↑ "Complete List of CLAGS Kessler Winners". Clags.org.
  16. ↑ ""2016 Kessler Award Winner: Dean Spade". Clags.org.
  17. ↑ "LGBTQ Pride Month: A Conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas". Gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "LGBTQ Pride Month: A Conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas".
  19. ↑ "June 20 - José Muñoz Award: Wilson Cruz, Frenchie Davis, Nathan Lee Graham – American Studies Certificate Program". Americanstudiescp.commons.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  20. ↑ "Queers & Comics Conference – CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies". Clags.org. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  21. ↑ Stryker, Susan (2006). "(De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies". In Stryker, Susan; Whittle, Stephen (eds.). The Transgender Studies Reader. New York, New York: Routledge. pp. 1–17. ISBN   978-0-415-94708-4.
  22. 1 2 "CLAGS presents "After Marriage Conference"". Clags.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  23. ↑ "The Honeymoon is Over: What's Next for LGBTQ People After Marriage". M.huffpost.com.
  24. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ↑ "Seminars in the City – CLAGS: Center for LGBTQ Studies". Clags.org. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.