Columbia Queer Alliance (CQA) is the central

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

student organization that represents

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gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

, and questioning

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

students. It is the oldest such

student organization A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

in the world, originally called the Student Homophile League, established in 1966 and recognized by the university on April 19, 1967.

History

During its first year, the Student Homophile League had about ten members who fought with university administrators until the group was officially recognized. Stephen Donaldson, a

-identified

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

activist, is commemorated by a plaque and a portrait in the queer student lounge that bears his name, in one of Columbia's residence halls, for spearheading the creation of the group. One of the key issues over which Donaldson clashed with the administration was the right to keep members' names confidential. When the group's charter was finally granted in April 1967, Donaldson sent an announcement to every media outlet he knew, but the only response was a radio interview on WNEW, a New York station, and an article in the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

'', which reported that some students believed the new group was an

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joke. Two weeks later, on May 3, ''

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'' reported the story on its front page. Donaldson later wrote: "The next couple days were frantic as media—which had ignored the press release—suddenly wanted the information I had already given them." Student activists at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

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, and

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formed similar groups of their own within two years. More than 150 such student groups had been established by the end of four years.

Activities

Among other activities, the Columbia Queer Alliance has hosted " First Friday Dances" for decades, which at their inception were one of the few places where college-age LGBT people could socialize with one another. Many of the Columbia Queer Alliance's activities have been historically held in

Earl Hall Earl Hall is a building on the campus of Columbia University. Built in 1900–1902 and designed by McKim, Mead & White, the building serves as a center for student religious life. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The ...

, which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2018 in recognition of its role in queer history.

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia Queer Alliance Columbia University student organizations LGBT youth organizations based in the United States Civil rights organizations in the United States Youth empowerment organizations History of LGBT civil rights in the United States Queer organizations Student organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in New York City