The GLBT Center will kick off the 2015 GLBT History Month on Thursday, October 1, 2015 with a Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions workshop from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in Talley 3222. The term “microaggressions” is used to refer to the “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults” towards members of marginalized communities (people of color, women, GLBT people, people with disabilities, etc.). This two-hour workshop is open to NC State undergraduates, graduate students, staff, faculty and alumni as well as interested members of the local community. The workshop will help participants learn how to identify microaggressions, understand their impact and respond appropriately when they occur.

The lineup of events for this year’s GLBT History Month continues on Tuesday, October 6 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in Talley 3285 with a Forgotten Queer History lecture by Josh Burford, American Studies scholar, Queer Archivist, Assistant Director of the UNC Charlotte Multicultural Resource Center and faculty affiliate in their Women’s and Gender Studies Program. From 7:00-9:00 p.m. in Talley 3285, Burford will also facilitate a Queer Zine Workshop to discuss the use of Queer Zines as a way to preserve GLBT history and show GLBT students at NC State how to turn their coming out stories into part of Queer History.

On Sunday, October 11, the GLBT Community Alliance (GLBTCA) student organization will paint the Free Expression Tunnel to celebrate National Coming Out Day and to kick off Diversity Education Week. Other GLBT History Month events include a Project SAFE workshop on Monday, October 12 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. in Talley 4280, an Intersectionality in the GLBT Community workshop on Thursday, October 29 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in Talley 3285, and a free screening of the documentary Al Nisa: Black Muslim Women in Atlanta’s Gay Mecca followed by a discussion with the film’s director Red Summer on Thursday, October 29 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Talley 4280. To register for any of the GLBT History Month workshops, visit go.ncsu.edu/advocates.

Renee Wells is director of the NC State GLBT Center.