Lavender Graduation

The Lavender Graduation was created by Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish lesbian keynote speaker in LGBT communities.[1] The Lavender Graduation is an annual ceremony conducted on campuses nationwide to honor LGBT students and to acknowledge their accomplishments and contributions to the Universities.[2] It is an informal part of the graduation ceremony that compliments the LGBT students and allies, not a replacement of it.[3] Dr. Sanlo began this tradition because she was denied access to attend her own children's graduations due to her sexual orientation. Dr. Sanlo herself mentions that up "until 1995, there were no ceremonies to honor our LGBT students. There were only ceremonies for students of various ethnicities and for other groups like ROTC, but nothing for our students, those to tend to feel most disenfranchised from their colleges and universities."[4]

The first Lavender Graduation took place at the University of Michigan in 1995 with three graduates. In 1997 Dr. Sanlo took the Lavender Graduation with her to UCLA, which became an instant success. and by 2001 there were over 45 campuses nationwide participating in Lavender Graduation Ceremonies.[2] These ceremonies provide a positive last experience for LGBT students and allies, which encourages them to be more involved in their communities.

Ceremony

The Lavender Graduation Ceremony is more than just a graduation ceremony, it is a time for recognition and inspiration, connections and accomplishments, and best of all, it is a celebration. Like all ceremonies, the Lavender Graduation also has a commencement speaker. This speaker can be a student or someone with a connection to the university.[3] Attendees do not strictly have to be an LGBT member. They can be of any sexual orientation and do not have to miss their own graduations. Special ceremonies, like the Lavender Graduation, are usually held well before the formal commencement begins.

Lavender is important to LGBT history and Dr. Sanlo herself because of the history behind it. It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear and the black triangle designated to lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. Activists in the LGBT communities took these negative symbols of hatred and combined them to make a new symbol and color of pride and community.[2][5]

Speakers at event

There are many people who have a story of their own and spoke at the Lavender graduation, such as Congressman David Cicilline who spoke at Georgetown’s Lavender Graduation in 2011 . He was the first openly gay member of congress and first openly gay mayor of Providence, R.I. Cicilline encouraged students to get involved in the world. “I think our community and our country needs partners at every level of government,” he said. “No matter where you find yourself, it’s important to participate in the civic life of this country.” Graduating student Ellen Greer said, “You owe it to yourselves and to your community to keep LGBT life on this campus great.” She also recalled the steps she took to get more LGBT rights on the Georgetown campus. When she was a freshman, things were just beginning after a violent hate crime at the university. “We are a better and stronger Georgetown because of your efforts,” she said. “We’re looking forward to seeing the kind of difference you all will make.” University President, John DiGoia, had said at the ceremony. For the third year at the university of Illinois at Chicago’s they hosted a Lavender Graduation.[6] The speaker that year was transgender actor Alexandra Billings. She had said many different things that day about equality such as, “just half a century ago, students were being expelled from colleges for being gay. The idea that a university has a ceremony that recognizes the gender sexual identities of a student and celebrates it is just wonderful. “ [7]

Opposition

There are many people who fear the Lavender Graduation. Some believe that a regular graduation is enough such as Jonathan Saenz, leader of the anti-gay group, Texas Values in, Texas. “This special Texas A&M ceremony essentially promotes and celebrates dangerous and risky sexual activity that can fiercely jeopardize a person’s well-being,” Saenz told the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow. “I’m not sure this is the most responsible way for a university to prepare students for the real world.” Saenz saw this as a direct violation of the ban on gay marriage law. The A&M Student Senate and state one Legislator have tried to take funding from the LGBT resource, but to no avail. [8]

References

  1. ↑ "About Ronni". Ronnisanla.com. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lavender Graduation". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Lavender Graduation tradition celebrates LGBT students". USA TODAY College. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Lavender Graduation: A Time for Celebration". Campus Pride. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Lavender Graduation: A Time for Celebration". Campus Pride. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  6. ↑ .O'Keeffe, Kevin. "Lavender Graduation Tradition Celebrates LGBT Students." USA TODAY College. 3 May 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://college.usatoday.com/2014/05/03/lavender-graduation-tradition-celebrates-lgbt-students/>.
  7. ↑ Hauswirth, Kevin. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=233db215-edfb-4ee9-b4c6-a91948071fc5@sessionmgr4005&vid=6&hid=4105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#db=pwh&AN=21432841>.
  8. ↑ Wright, John. "Anti-gay Leader Says A&M’s Lavender Graduation “celebrates Dangerous and Risky Sexual Activity”." Anti-gay Leader Says A&M’s Lavender Graduation “celebrates Dangerous and Risky Sexual Activity”. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://www.lonestarq.com/anti-gay-leader-says-ams-lavender-graduation-celebrates-dangerous-risky-sexual-activity/>.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.