Education
“Breaking Barriers” – Red River Rainbow Seniors Secure The Future By Recording the Past
Physical barriers are often plainly obvious, and, just-as-often, physical barriers can only be defeated with physical force—a stout shoulder, a battering ram, or even a stick of dynamite. Some barriers, however, are more subtle and can only be defeated with subtle force. Accepting this challenge is a group that boosts not one, but two overlooked…
The Celebration of a Life Well-Lived: Jean-Nickolaus Tretter
It’s hard to accurately predict which pieces of our history will be important to future generations. It’s nearly impossible to know which newspaper clipping or episode of a popular TV show or work of art will go down in history as the most important one. In the 1970s and ’80s in the United States, it…
Equity for LGBTQ Entrepreneurs of Color Enters its Third Year?
Two humanitarian organizations, Quorum and PFund, partnered together to spearhead an initiative. The Equity Fund for Queer Entrepreneurs of Color gives back and invests in small businesses within the BIPOC and LGBTQ community. Lavender Magazine spoke to Aaron Zimmerman, the executive director of PFund, the only LGBTQ community foundation serving the Upper Midwest, and Rebecca…
Queer & Trans* Ecologies Symposium: Twin Cities Campus Edition
What is a Queer & Trans* Ecologies Symposium? The Queer & Trans* Ecologies Symposium is a groundbreaking event that seeks to explore new perspectives and create awareness of issues affecting queer and trans* communities in relation to ecology. This symposium brings together a diverse group of scholars, activists, artists, and community members to engage in…
Inver Hills Community College Opens New LGBTQ Resource Center
What would be more meaningful than to open up an on-campus LGBTQ resource center? That was what exactly happened at Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights. The brand new Prism Center of Gender and Sexuality is located inside the College Center building just off of the Café and Lounge area. The space is easily…
The Impact of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Minnesota
Minnesota had its first reported case of AIDS in 1982 – only a year after the first case was reported in New York. “[I] moved to Minneapolis from New York City in August 1981, just after the recognition of AIDS in a Center for Disease Control publication,” says Morris Floyd, “So the matter was certainly…
Melanie Willingham-Jaggers: Beauty in the Margins
In 1990, a group of teachers formed an organization called GLSEN (pronounced like “glisten”) with the intention of making schools a safer place for LGBTQ children. Over forty years later, GLSEN has authored resources for educators, conducted research on LGBTQ students, lobbied Congress for safer schools, and has been instrumental in the creation of GSAs…
A Word In Edgewise: Of Maus and Men – A Little Knowledge is Only the Beginning
There has been an uptick in book banning, not only at the school library level, but, according to a recent NYT article, a growing tactic of politicizing. A Wyoming county prosecutor’s office considered pressing charges against library employees for stocking certain books; an Oklahoma bill was introduced into the State Senate to prohibit school libraries from keeping any books…
Beneath the Surface: A Few LGBTQ Unsung Heroes
When we think of cultural icons, we think Martin Luther King Jr., Jimi Hendrix, Walt Disney. These are hugely influential household names, and for good reason: their creativity and visions have had enormous impacts on our society, and their legacies continue today. But culture wasn’t formed by a small handful of famous figures; it is…
Skirting The Issues: Osseo
There are many ways to change the world. For example, some take to the streets and march with sheer numbers demanding change. Others stand on soapboxes, yelling into microphones with the hope that the powerful will listen. Still others—a small minority—resort to violence and destruction, something that can scar a society’s soul. I attempt to…
