A wise woman once said: “the limit does not exist.” And while that particular statement was about a complex equation only the math gays would understand, we can confidently extend this sentiment to describe queer and trans communities.
Thirty years ago, Midwest queer and trans college students found common ground in their shared feelings of detachment from other LGBTQ+ students and being overlooked by national rights initiatives and political progress. In response, they established what has become the largest and longest-running LGBTQ+ college conference in the country.
We convene this weekend as the inheritors of this 30 year legacy, landmark, and gift. As dynamic individuals, friends, co-conspirators, and kin. We come together in this space to generate new knowledge and understanding, to share vital skills and resources, and to co-create expansive new futures that build upon what’s been planted before us.
There is a lifeforce forged in this space, an energy that emerges from the combined connectivity, empowerment, and community present here. As attendees and participants, you carry home with you fractals of this lifeforce and embed them in your organizations, campuses, sacred spaces, activisms, and beyond.
Our wish for you is that your fractal is vibrant, buzzing with abundant possibility, shimmering, and satiating. We hope you obtain the tools and guidance you need to make the next push toward change and to grow in the direction you desire.
It is our immense pleasure to welcome you to the 30th annual Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference and to provide you with a piece of Midwest queer and trans history to call your own.
Read our full community welcomes from our team, plus letters from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and Mayor Andrew Ginther.
RB Brooks
Director of Programs, Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity
Justin Drwencke
Executive Director, Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity