Locating Queer Culture

Title: Locating Queer Culture
Description: This collection includes oral histories created through the Gender and Women's Studies course "GWS 467: Locating Queer Culture," taught by Siobhan Somerville. Students conducted interviews and created transcripts as part of their coursework.
Date: 2024-
Thumbnail Image Source: Queer BIPOC Project Thumbnail

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Robyn Deterding
Robyn Deterding, former director of campus recreation and current adjunct instructor, discusses her work in creating an inclusive campus environment through gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms and inclusion statements. She also discusses her child's transition.
Sreelakshmi Suresh
Sreelakshmi Suresh, a graduate of the entomology Master's degree program, discusses their time at the University as a student and community builder. Suresh founded and served as president of F.U.S.E., which stands for Foraging Unity, Solidarity, and Equity for QTPOC (queer and transgender people of color). Suresh mentions that they feel they have two separate identities on campus: one as a graduate student and the other as a queer person. They wanted to create a community for queer people of color, which they felt was previously lacking, to help others who may feel isolated on campus.
Stephanie Skora
To access this interview, please contact the Student Life and Culture Archives at illiarch@illinois.edu Stephanie Skora, founder of the Campus Union for Trans Equality and Support (CUTES) discusses her experience coming out as trans during her freshman year at UIUC and the feeling of isolation she encountered due to the complete lack of spaces for trans and gender-nonconforming people on campus at that time. She emphasizes how this disorientation she experienced led her to found CUTES as a safe space for trans people to meet each other and build community. Alongside her work with CUTES, Stephanie was highly engaged in progressive student activist movements, such as Black Lives Matter, Palestinian Solidarity, and demands for Indigenous rights. Today, Stephanie lives in Chicago and works in civic education centered around voting rights, anti-racism, anti-Zionism, and trans advocacy.
Susan Keehn
To access this interview, please contact the Student Life and Culture Archives at illiarch@illinois.edu Susan Keehn provides a view into the lived experiences of gay rights activists on the University of Illinois campus during the 1970s. Keehn first became involved in gay rights organizing through the Gay Illini: Gay People’s Alliance at the U of I at UC. Colloquially known as the Gay Illini, this organization sought the social and legal advancement of gay people in the Champaign-Urbana area, launching innumerable educational and consciousness-raising campaigns both on campus and in the greater community. Among their most well-known was the Gay Switchboard, which provided individuals with information on gay-friendly social spaces, mental and physical health resources, and emotional support. Keehn served as the co-president of the Gay Illini from 1975 to 1977 while earning her graduate degree from the university.