by Anonymous
Navigating college as a queer person can be particularly challenging, but we’ve written this article to break down some of the most important things to know.
The LGBT Center
The LGBT Center plays an integral role in providing services to the queer community at Penn. It is the second oldest LGBT Center in the U.S., and the first to name a Scholar in Residence, through which institutions host a scholar that provides guest lectures and engages with the campus, after receiving a $2 million anonymous donation. You will discover a wealth of historical archives when you explore the Center, located at 39th and Spruce St.
Last year, the Center addressed a serious lack in their trans/non-binary programming by hiring Associate Director Jake Muscato. Many students, noticing the absence of trans representation among the Center’s full-time staff and below-par training materials, advocated for the change. Since Muscato’s hiring, there has been significant improvement in trans/non-binary programming and support for trans students. However, some individuals question whether the Center tokenizes its trans staff. An anonymous informant noted that a significant portion of the trans programming, such as the writer, performance artist, and media personality ALOK’s residency, was delegated to trans staff with insufficient assistance from non-trans staff in an attempt to increase representation but ultimately suggesting that non-trans staff didn’t desire to be involved in the first place.
This summer, after serving as the Center’s Director for 9 years, Erin Cross decided to retire. Additionally, Malik Muhammad, an Associate Director for 6 years, decided to pursue another role within University Life. This leaves Muscato as the sole full-time staff member until the Center hires new directors. As a result, queer students should expect some instability as the Center undergoes significant changes this year.
Trans Resources
Fortunately, trans programming at Penn is on the rise– in contrast to the disturbing increase in anti-trans bills and hate crimes across the country. According to a student who seeks support from Counseling Services at Penn, a new weekly support group called ‘Gender Joy’ for trans/nonbinary students is in works to be introduced this Fall. According to LGBT Center staff and Gender Affirming Providers at Student Health Services, the University is actively working to provide free gender-affirming clothing products to students. Moreover, the Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP) continues to support trans students seeking gender-affirming care by covering treatments and surgeries. However, in 2017 students reported concerns about gender affirming care through PSIP.
While the university is growing its support structures for students, self-organized trans student groups on campus are currently on the decline. In the spring of 2023, Penn Non-Cis, the only trans specific group on campus, was officially declared non-functional as all active members of the group graduated without any successors. In light of this, current students have the opportunity to step in and revive a much-needed student-run space for trans students at Penn.
Religious Queer Groups
A few years ago, Penn had several spaces for religious queer communities, such as Queer Muslims and Allies at Penn (QMAP), J-Bagel (a Jewish LGBTQ+ group), and Queer Christian Fellowship (QCF). While J-Bagel remains active, the other two groups are on an indefinite hiatus. J-Bagel and QCF receive recognition and support from Penn Hillel and the Christian Association, respectively. However, QMAP received little to no support from the Muslim Student Association (MSA). In the spring of 2023, the LGBT Center organized a Queer Iftar to create a space for queer Muslims during Ramadan. They reached out to MSA for potential collaboration but were turned down. As a result, queer Muslims at Penn remain marginalized. Although some students express a desire to restart the group, they fear being outed to their families. Spaces like the LGBT Center could potentially assist in bringing QMAP back to Penn.
Greek Life
With a significant 25 percent of students involved, Penn has an extensive Greek life culture. However, Greek life, known for its inherent bureaucracy, has historically caused numerous problems at Penn.
Greek life is rooted in the concepts of brotherhood and sisterhood, inherently gendered and complicating matters for queer students at Penn when it comes to fraternity parties and rush events. While many fraternities and sororities at Penn have non-heterosexual members, the representation of trans people falls behind. According to a queer sorority sister at Penn, their sorority is open to anyone that identifies as a woman. However, they acknowledge that non-binary individuals or those that do not pass as cisgender may face greater challenges during the rush process. This July, the sorority Sigma Kappa sent out a nation-wide survey to their chapters asking about whether non-binary students should be allowed to join their sorority.
One fraternity that stands apart is St. Elmo, a co-ed frat. A brother from St. Elmo emphasizes their fraternity’s inherently queer nature. When asked about the inclusion of trans members, they affirm, “Yes, Elmo is open to trans students! We currently have several trans members, including myself, and had a trans president two years ago… As one of the few co-ed groups at Penn, I believe we are uniquely positioned to be a safe environment for trans people interested in Greek life or looking for a supportive community. Thankfully, gender does not appear to be a barrier to rushing.” However, Elmos is not entirely unproblematic, as some students have voiced concerns over their hypocrisy of doing a mixer with Castle last year. The fraternity ‘Castle’ is known widely for its history of violent crimes.
Queer Studies
Penn has much room to improve its support of the LGBTQIA+ community in academics. For example, there is a course titled Sex & Human Nature taught by Professor Theodore Shurr with the anthropology department. This course has been taught multiple times, most recently in the Spring semester of 2023. Despite its purpose to teach sexuality studies, the course is not cross-listed with the GSWS program as it was decided that Dr. Schurr’s course did not meet the program’s standards as of 2019. I, the writer of this article, took the course, and I found it to be incredibly lacking. It was taught from a heteronormative point-of-view that was never acknowledged, but the most egregious problem was how the lecture on the subject of transgender people was taught. Dr. Schurr repeatedly dead-named and misgendered examples of famous transgender people and repeatedly used the terms “transgender” and “transsexual” interchangeably. Students in the course, including myself, voiced concerns and I felt that we were being listened to by the anthropology department and the the DEI office, but until it is confirmed that either the course is canceled or Professor Schurr will no longer be teaching it, the promises that were made feel empty since the exact same promise, that Dr. Schurr would not be teaching this course again, was made in 2019 and remained unfulfilled. The fact that there were problems in the past, that concerned individuals believed had been properly addressed only to find out that they were not, only serves to deepen the distrust that LGBT people have in the university’s systems.
Queer studies at Penn is a mixed bag. While there are individuals who work for the university that I’ve had the pleasure to interact with who have helped me feel supported and included at Penn, the University does not provide adequate institutional support to queer studies The most pressing issue is how Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies is treated at Penn. Instead of being a fully-fledged department, this field of studies at Penn is restricted to program-status. This distinction means, among other drawbacks, that faculty in the GSWS program cannot be granted tenure by the people in charge of the actual program. This classification has been used to devalue other fields of study in the past, such as Africana studies (see: cultural and ethnic studies), which was only established as a department after 40 years of being a program in 2012.
Despite its lack of institutional support, the GSWS department makes use of what resources it does have to do interesting and ground-breaking work. For example, the department recently appointed Ricardo Brachoas as the inaugural scholar-maker. He has conducted a variety of projects, including producing a play written by a GSWS major last year. In another recent development for queer studies at Penn, the Center for Research in Feminist, Queer, and Transgender studies (FQTC) hired a new director and changed its name from the Alice Paul Center in 2021, reflecting a more “complex and encompassing” understanding of their work.
Conclusion
Despite the issues for LGBTQIA+ students at Penn, there is still a diverse community at the University, and there are many things that Penn is doing right. The Campus Pride Index ranks Penn 5 out of 5 stars for good reason. If you need support such as access to counseling, a grant for gender affirming care, identity-based clubs, and more, Penn offers many resources, which we have listed here.
Penn Disorientation Guide 