Stephen Lacey in what is now the Van Etten-Lacey House. Cornell College photo.During Pride Month in June 2022 Cornell College shared stories and celebrated along with our LGBTQIA+ community by uplifting their voices on social media. Professor of Art History Chris Penn-Goetsch helped create this timeline, which provides a proud history beginning in 1977.Diane CrowderAlliance button from 2004-05Jugglers Against Homophobia button1977: First “out” gay faculty member hired: Stephen Lacey, English1978: First informal private meetings for gay Cornell students at Stephen Lacey’s home1979: Lesbians join the meetings with the support of Diane Crowder, French and Women’s Studies1983: Counseling Center offers a support group for gay students1993: The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Cornell organization “Family and Friends” first meets on-campusc. 1996: Professor Stephen Lacey establishes the Literature of AIDS class1998-2001: Jugglers Against Homophobia forms and is active on campus 2002: “Family and Friends” changes its name to Alliance2003: Students across campus hold a candle-lit rally to support the production of “The Laramie Project“2005: First opposite-sex marriage including a transgender person is held in Cornell’s Allee Chapel on Feb. 14Penn-Goetsch wedding2009: First same-sex marriage in Cornell’s Allee Chapel on May 22011: Professor Diane Crowder teaches Classics of LGBT Literature and Film2011: Professor of Sociology Erin Davis teaches Transgendered Lives and Gender Diversity 2018: First Rainbow (LGBTQIA+) GraduationA student production of “Rent” in 2018.2018: Cornell’s theatre department produces the musical “Rent”2021: Professor of Art History Christina Penn-Goetsch teaches Queer Eye for Art History Rupert Kinnard ’79 in Peter Paul Luce Gallery, McWethy Hall, before his artist’s reception.2022: Rupert Kinnard ’79, creator of the oldest continuing Black gay and lesbian comic characters in the U.S., returns to campus for “From Cornell to Cathartica: A History of Cathartic Comics” exhibition
