Alternative Thanksgiving and LGBT Student Leadership Award

Students, Alumni, and community members joined together for the 5^th Annual Alternative Thanksgiving, an event that honors LGBT students who face a number of difficulties during the holidays. For some students, going home means going back into the closet and pretending to be straight, or it means leaving behind their partners and special relationships because they aren’t recognized by their families. And for a number of students it can be a reminder that they’ve been kicked out of their homes and have nowhere to go for the holidays.

The LGBT Center staff, alumni, and the supportive U of L community recognizes the need for positive kinship experiences around the holidays and this event allows students to bring their whole selves to the proverbial dinner table.

Additionally, Alternative Thanksgiving is the night that we celebrate the Katy Garrison Award recipients who will graduate in December. This year the LGBT Center honored MC Lampe with the award, given to students who have held one or more leadership positions with the LGBT Center or the affiliated registered student organizations. MC has been a student assistant in the Center, president of commonGround, has organized the annual drag show PINK!, and was part of a panel that spoke to the state legislature about bullying in schools, and a number of other projects and panels over their years at U of L. Upon receiving the award MC said: “All I wanted to do was make a difference, and looking back now, I feel like I have.”