LaGuardia Joins 15+ CUNY Colleges in Launching the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium

LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (October 5, 2022) — LaGuardia Community College has joined with 15 CUNY colleges to launch the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium, through which faculty, staff and students will archive LGBTQIA+ history across New York, and support LGBTQIA+ training, education, and programming at the colleges.

The Consortium is comprised of community colleges, four-year institutions, and professional schools in all five boroughs of New York City. In addition to LaGuardia, the growing list includes Baruch College, Bronx Community College, Brooklyn College, City College, the College of Staten Island, CUNY Graduate Center, the CUNY School of Law, Guttman Community College, Hunter College, John Jay School of Criminal Justice, Lehman College, Queens College, Medgar Evers College, York College, and Queensborough Community College.

LaGuardia Community College President Kenneth Adams spoke at the official launch of the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium, held at the CUNY School of Law, on Friday, September 23, 2022.

“The CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium is an important initiative symbolizing LGBTQIA+ representation and support throughout the CUNY system. I am proud of the work led by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives that helped to initiate this group under the direction of LaGuardia professor Dr. Allie Brashears. LaGuardia’s involvement reflects our welcoming spirit and our commitment to elevating and supporting previously marginalized groups,” said President Adams.

Dr. Brashears is an associate professor of biology in LaGuardia’s Natural Sciences Department and director of LGBTQ+ Programming at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. She has been involved in transgender advocacy since 2014.

LaGuardia has been a leader in organizing LGBTQIA+ advocacy across CUNY for years. In 2017 the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, led by Dr. Richard Lieberman, brought together the five CUNY campuses in Queens—LaGuardia, Queens College, York College, CUNY Law School, and Queensborough Community College—to march under one CUNY banner at the annual Queens Pride Parade. Over the years, CUNY Queens has become one of the largest contingents in the parade, comprised of more than 200 faculty, staff and students. In addition, the five campuses have shared programming and resources. As example, the Lavender Line: Coming Out in Queens exhibition, curated by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives making the 25th anniversary of Queens Pride, was shown at all five campuses.

The Archives’ LGBTQ+ Collection was an important source of information for the exhibition and other programming produced about the history of LGBTQ activism in Queens. The Collection was launched when Daniel Dromm, former city council member and co-founder of Queens Pride, donated his personal papers and memorabilia to the Archives.

The CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium was made possible with support from LaGuardia Community College and the New York City Council and the Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus.

• • • •The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College chronicles the past 150 years of New York City history, with a growing focus on Queens and the outer boroughs. Housing more than two million documents, and with 100,000 photographs digitized and accessible on its website, the Archives serves students, scholars, journalists, policy makers, and exhibition planners. Collections include the records of the New York City Council and the New York City Housing Authority; explorations into Queens local history and LGBTQ activism in Queens; as well as the papers and personal mementos of Mayors Fiorello H. LaGuardia, William O’Dwyer, Robert F. Wagner, John V. Lindsay, Abraham D. Beame, Edward I. Koch, David Dinkins, and Rudolph Giuliani. https://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/

LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), located in Long Island City, Queens, educates thousands of New Yorkers annually through degree, certificate, and continuing education programs . LaGuardia is a national voice on behalf of community colleges, where half of all U.S. college students study. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his championing the underserved. Since our doors opened in 1971, our programs regularly become national models for pushing boundaries to give people of all backgrounds access to a high quality, affordable college education.

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