Our LGBTQ community is diverse, vibrant, and growing. Today, there are many organizations at the University of Mississippi and in the larger community that collaborate on a range of annual events, including LGBT History Month in October and the Oxford Pride Parade in May.
On campus, the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies and the Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement oversee Pride Camp (a program for incoming LGBTQ students), LGBT History Month, Lavender Graduation, and the Oxford Pride Parade. They also coordinate the Allies program, which trains students, faculty, and staff to be advocates and resources for LGBTQ students. The Isom Center also offers a graduate minor in gender studies and an optional queer studies emphasis in its undergraduate minor. For more on lectures and specific programming, including the annual queer studies lecture please go here. Individual departments, centers, and organizations collaborate on these events.
Student groups on campus include UM Pride Network, Queer People of Color (QPOC), OUTGrads, OUTLaw, and LAMBDA, a student support and discussion group on campus.
In the Oxford community, OutOxford organizes Code Pink, a series of inclusive dance parties, and co-sponsors the Oxford Pride Parade, including the annual drag show. PFLAG serves as a support groups for LGBTQ folks and their friends and families. Allied groups such as the Oxford Film Festival and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council regularly cosponsor LGBTQ-themed events with the Isom Center.
In the broader community, HRC Mississippi has a network across the state, and the Campaign for Southern Equality has worked on a number of court cases regarding Mississippi’s LGBTQ community.