One set of items that stood out to me from Rare Books and Special Collections was the collection of articles on the distinct “Perversity to Diversity” art exhibits held at the University of Rochester in 1991 and 1992. This included the two Empty Closet articles on the original “Perversity to Diversity” exhibit assigned earlier in the class as well as a Campus Times article on a forum held to discuss the exhibit and another Empty Closet article discussing the sequel exhibit curated the following spring: “Perversity to Diversity: Gaze Again.” This set of articles resonated with me because they gave insight into: 1) the visceral negativity from the non-LGBTQ+ community in response to the original exhibit, expressed in comments referring to the exhibit as “sick” and “violent” and “degrading”; and 2) the choice of the LGBTQ+ community to make the sequel exhibit less bold in its depictions of their culture. I believe the inclusion of this collection would be important to campus and city communities because it illustrates just how lightly the LGBTQ+ community has been expected to tread in public even within the past two decades.
I recently attended the College Feminists’ production of The Vagina Monologues. The poster for the event included a disclaimer that anyone seeking disability accommodations for the event should contact the University Intercessor at least five business days in advance. I’m happy the College Feminists included this on their poster; but I’m markedly disappointed with the University’s required time frame to grant such accommodations. This is quite literally a message that anyone in need of accommodations on a decidedly inaccessible campus must make an explicit arrangement five business days in advance to exist on this campus. Why is this the case? Why is a university with such financial and labor resources unable to prioritize simple requests for accommodations with lesser notice? I don’t believe there’s a real lack of capability; I believe this simply reflects the belief that the disabled community is a burden and their needs are appropriately handled as a standard business transaction.