B-GLAD events will celebrate and educate

The Bisexual Gay Lesbian Transgender Awareness Days are being held throughout this week. B-GLAD 2000 kicked off Friday night in the Veranda with a "Get Down and B-Glad Dance." The dance was the first in a series of events scheduled for the annual Bisexual Gay Lesbian Transgender Awareness Days, which will continue all this week. College sophomore Heather Lochridge, co-chair of Allies, a student group of straight students who are dedicated to increasing gay awareness, pointed to two goals of the B-GLAD events. "One is to celebrate LGBT culture and the other is to educate others on LGBT culture," she said. Allies is co-sponsoring B-GLAD along with the Queer Students Association. Andy Byala, a College senior and member of QSA, said, "I love B-GLAD because it creates an atmosphere in which so many conversations can take place. I enjoy having friends ask questions about what it's like to be gay and what it may have to do with them." Events include a "Qabaret," held last Saturday, which showcased the talents of queer and queer-friendly members of the Penn community. Also, today at noon, an event entitled "Celebrating Queer Writers of Color" will be held at the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Local queer writers of color will read from their works as guests enjoy their lunches. A rally will be held Wednesday on College Green at 12:30 p.m. in which all participants can voice their opinions on LGBT issues and awareness. And a free screening of the Academy Award nominated movie Boys Don't Cry, which portrays the true story of Brandon Teena, a transgender woman, will take place at International House that evening at 7 p.m. Keynote speaker Urvashi Vaid, an Indian-American writer and activist, will speak Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in room 110 of the Annenberg School. "She's amazing," Lochridge said of Vaid. "She's an LGBT activist who stands for the equal rights of all people." Lochridge also said that Allies is sponsoring events of its own. "Allies is doing a program in the college houses in which we show mainstream movies with LGBT sub-themes, like My Best Friend's Wedding, and we have a discussion about it afterwards," she said. On Friday, the last day of B-GLAD, students are encouraged to wear jeans in support of the gay community. A party will also be held in a yet to be announced location. Several of the events are being co-sponsored by other campus organizations, including the LGBT Center, Sangam, the Women's Studies Department, Hillel, SPEC, Take Back the Night, the Asian-American Studies program, Connaissance and PennGALA, the gay and lesbian alumni organization.

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