The LGBTQ+ History Month program, held throughout October, is designed to both unite Trinity’s queer community and educate and enrich campus as a whole, according to LGBTQ+ Life and Trinity’s Queer Resource Center said Crystal Nieves ’08, M’23, director of.
“This month has been about digging deep into our traditions and roots in terms of campus activism and visibility for the queer community,” Nieves said. “This year, we thought specifically about Trinity’s role in Hartford’s queer history.”
The panel discussion “Queer Hartford” included Evelyn Mantilla, Pastor Aaron Miller, Regina Dighton, and Richard Stillson.
The Oct. 22 panel discussion, “Queer Hartford: Our Story,” was moderated by Richard Stilson, a visiting associate professor of psychology at Trinity University who was also a panelist. In addition to being a licensed psychologist who worked in the state of Connecticut for 26 years, Stillson is also a longtime LGBTQ activist and is better known in the area as drag talent Mucha Mucha Placer.
“I remember when Professor Stillson taught at Central,” Nieves said. [Connecticut State University] While I also worked there, they were a force of love for all students on campus who needed love, especially trans students. I was very familiar with their operations and operations in Hartford. Professor Stillson is a treasure to Hartford and to Connecticut, and I’m so proud of Trinity right now. ”
Stillson said during the panel discussion that Trinity has been a center of queer life and queer organizing in Hartford for many years. “This campus is very important to queer people in Hartford,” they said. “Down the hill on Zion Street was once a gay-run cafe, the Arts and Leisure Coffeehouse. Queer films have been shown, and we moved there.”
Richard Stilson, Associate Professor of the Practice of Psychology, aka Mucha Mucha Placer.
The local gay community started holding drag balls in Hartford after the 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning,” which Stillson and many others saw at CineStudio. “To host these events, we raised approximately $100,000 for aid services organizations, the former Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, which is still here. We collected them,” Stillson said. “And I want to be an inspiration to the activists here. We need a community center in Hartford.” In the spring of 2025, Stillson will teach a psychology course, “Human Sexuality,” at Trinity University. will be taught.
Other panelists include Evelyn Mantilla, a former Connecticut congresswoman and LGBTQ activist. Regina Dighton, former chair of the Hartford LGBTQ Commission, LGBTQ activist, and AIDS crisis activist. and the Rev. Aaron Miller, pastor of MCC Church in Hartford and transgender rights activist. Click here to watch the panel discussion.
“Each panelist spoke about Queer Hartford, its memories, and its history,” Nieves said. “The panel discussion was an empowering discussion about the future of Queer Hartford, Trinity’s involvement, and how young people can join the movement.” It turned into a giving conversation. Everyone who attended that talk felt that no matter what happens, there’s always something you can do.”
Leon Dell’Era ’27 introduces Richard Stillson, Visiting Associate Professor of the Practice of Psychology.
Leon Dell’Era ’27, a student worker in the Queer Resource Center, helped organize the panel after taking Stillson’s class last semester. “We want to make sure that not only queer students know that they belong here, but also that there is a rich queer history on the Hartford and Trinity campuses and beyond.” We wanted a way to make it known to the general student body,” Dellaera said.
Professor Nieves added, “My hope is that each time we do this program in October, it will help our students understand that they are part of an ongoing historical story.”
During Ally Week, October 16-18, members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies held their annual “Pride Chalking” night, where they chalked messages of pride and inclusion on campus sidewalks. Ta. “For a while, these activities on campus felt like fun, social things, but how dangerous, serious, and difficult were the visible activist movements of the 1990s and 2000s?” The message of what it was about has been lost,” Nieves said. “The impact of doing it is very different than doing it with the mindset that you are part of the movement and there is activism within it.”
Mr. Nieves and Mr. Dell’Era are both members of the LGBTQ+ committee of Trinity’s Campus Climate Action Task Force. The committee will develop an action plan focused on creating a more inclusive campus environment. Professor Nieves said that while there is still much work to do, Trinity recently received a five-star rating on the Campus Pride Index for the second year in a row and also won its second Excellence in Diversity in Higher Education (HEED) award. Ta.
Crystal Nieves ’08, M’23, director of LGBTQ+ Life and Trinity’s Queer Resource Center, will speak at the October 22 event.
One tool that helps its committee and the community at large better understand LGBTQ+ life at Trinity is the exhibit “Trinity College’s Queer History,” which has been on display in the library for a month. “Knowing our history is essential to understanding our present and successfully moving our future forward,” said Nieves, who is organizing the research project in preparation for Trinity’s bicentenary in 2023. said. View the story map online.
Other events held during the month included a Pride Mass at Trinity College Chapel, screenings of the films Seahorse Parents and We Have Never Been Modern at CineStudio, a meet-and-greet for LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, and students; The event will include a QRC Open House and Alumni Reception. Autumn weekend.
