Opening of Shades of the Rainbow Exhibit About LGBTQ+ Students at LaGuardia Community College
When: Tuesday, April 30, 2019 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Where: E-building Atrium, 2nd Floor
The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives is opening a new oral history and photography exhibit, Shades of the Rainbow: Generation Z Reframes Gender and Sexuality, exploring the personal experiences of LGBTQ+ students at LaGuardia Community College. The exhibit includes photos and video of LaGuardia Community College’s LGBTQ+ students, in which they share their life experiences.
At the opening reception, LaGuardia Community College's president, Dr. Gail O. Mellow and Provost Paul Arcario, and New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm, are scheduled to speak. A representative from LaGuardia's Straight and Gay Alliance (SAGA) student club may speak as well.
Exhibition Overview :
Shades of the Rainbow: Generation Z Reframes Gender and Sexuality explores the personal experiences of LaGuardia Community College LGBT students. Through photography, film, and oral history, they tell intimate stories about coming out in families of different ethnicities, races, and religions. In the process, they challenge traditional understandings of gender and sexuality in American culture. Moreso than millennials, Gen Z members reject gender binaries -- rather, they view gender and sexuality as fluid and flexible, not fixed and static. They use gender-neutral pronouns like “they” and “them.”
Shades of the Rainbow asks simple but powerful questions: What is it like to be Black and lesbian? Latino and gay? Asian and gender nonconforming? The answers reveal the joys and struggles of coming out for these post-millennials. From an array of neighborhoods in New York City, we catch glimpses of individuals enduring hardships but also finding love and support from friends, partners, and family members. Mostly people of color, these students seldom see affirming imagery of themselves in the media and in popular culture. This project aims to remedy the lack of positive representation and chronicle the experiences of groups historically on the margins in American society.
Refreshments will be served