Evan Thornburg Speaks at Gender, Sexual Minorities Conference

On Thursday, KU hosted its 2nd annual Gender and Sexual Minorities Conference in the McFarland Student Union building. The event featured Evan Thornburg, Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs for the city of Philadelphia, as the keynote speaker.

Thornburg, a Philadelphia resident, opened up talks about intersectionality with vigor and excitement, an easeful approach to a complicated topic. She was playful, ecstatic and knowledgeable on the topics. Joking with the audience, she said, “Oh, maybe they didn’t tell you. I’m interactive.”

Thornburg asked questions on the audience’s definitions of intersectionality and the importance of Philadelphia adding brown and black stripes to their pride flag, a decision that sparked controversy and made national headlines. The audience responded with positive and personal experiences.

The discussion continued with a brief history of intersectionality from the origin of the word in a 1989 paper by Kimberle Crenshaw to rising lesbian activists who felt hindered by other groups’ messages.

Later in the evening, students and faculty presented their own topics such as Tyler Mcmaster, who presented on the use of comics to progress and address key feminist issues in our everyday lives.

Every presentation filled the seats and some filled in the floor space. The second GSM conference ended with great success and will continue again next year.