Expert Will Speak at Yale on Racial and Sexual Identity In Washington

Brett Beemyn, an assistant professor of African American Studies at Western Illinois University, will present a talk on “A Queer Capital: Black and White Lesbigay Life in Washington, D.C., 1920-1960” on Monday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m. in the Romance Languages Lounge on the third floor of 82-90 Wall St. The event is sponsored by the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Committee and is free and open to the public.

Coordinator of the largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies conference ever held in the United States, Beemyn now directs a multicultural leadership program and chairs the President’s Task Force to End Homophobia at Western Illinois University. He has worked for many years as an advocate for gay and transgendered students and has been an active leader in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities as well.

Beemyn edited “Creating a Place for Ourselves: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community Histories” and (with Mickey Eliason) “Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Anthology.” He is currently completing an anthology of theoretical, historical and literary essays about male bisexuality. His forthcoming book, “A Queer Capital: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Life in Washington, D.C., 1890-1955,” is a community history and literary study that describes the racial lines in the capital’s gay, lesbian and bisexual communities, and their influences on the literature of the “New Negro” Renaissance.

For further information, call Kimberly Bryant-Smith at the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies Committee, (203) 432-8796, or send e-mail to kimberly.bryant-smith@yale.edu.