CU-Boulder to host Transforming Gender Symposium

The University of Colorado Boulder’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (GLBTQ) Resource Center is proud to announce the sixth annual Transforming Gender Symposium on campus March 9-11. Organizers and co-sponsors are committed to addressing issues pertaining to transgender and gender nonconforming people both on and off campus.

In the previous five years, the symposium has consistently drawn around 200 attendees and hosted a diverse, dynamic group of speakers and performers. This year’s keynote speakers include Judith Halberstam, professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Southern California; Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center on Transgender Equality; members of the folk-rock band Girlyman; and Emi Koyama, a multi-issue activist.

All symposium sessions are free and open to the public and will be held on the CU-Boulder campus in the Center for Community building and the adjacent Koelbel Business Building.  The symposium will kick off at 4 p.m. Friday with Halberstam’s keynote address and continue from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to keynote speakers and workshops, the symposium will host a film track of four transgender-related films, and a provider track with information for transgender people, mental health providers, and medical providers. Two of the four films feature trans people from Colorado, including “Photos of Angie,” which documents the life of Angie Zapata.

CU-Boulder included protection of gender identity and expression in its anti-discrimination policy in August 2011.  The symposium will help educate the surrounding community about the unique issues transgender and gender-queer people face.

“We’re really excited about the breadth and depth of topics this year,” said Scarlet Bowen, director of the GLBTQ Resource Center. “Issues to be addressed range from Gaga feminism and civil rights to the intersections of Muslim and transgender identity.”

Previous symposium speakers have included professors Susan Stryker and Dean Spade, Denver authors Matt Kailey and Dylan Scholinski, and performers including Katastrophe and Ryka Aoki de la Cruz.

Co-sponsors of the Sixth Annual Transforming Gender Symposium include the CU President's Fund for the Humanities, the Open Door Fund, Out Boulder, Department of Ethnic Studies, Department of Anthropology, Women and Gender Studies, Community Health, the LGBT Studies Certificate program, and the Women's Resource Center.

Click here for a full conference schedule and more information.