A defunct SF State advocacy group that was influential for shedding light on issues affecting queer people of color back in its day is about to be revived.
The campus organization Queer People of Color (QPOC) was first formed in 2005 by graduate students of the Ethnic Studies program.
During a recent meeting of the Queer Alliance, members began planning to revive QPOC this fall, according to QA Director Jason Reed.
The campus organization was created to provide a safe place and outlet for students of all genders, sexualities and identities.
QPOC’s return is welcome news for some students on campus who feel that the demographic faces unique challenges that a group like QPOC could address. “I feel like of any other group… minorities, especially when it comes to people of color, face a lot of differences, especially within the LGBT community,” said former QA Director of Events Anthony Sanchez.
“Like for instance if you were to walk down Castro, the majority is white gay males and I really believe that there needs to be representation even here on the SF State campus.”
According to a document created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of SFSU’s College of Ethnic Studies, QPOC was initiated by “impassioned queer graduate students of color dedicated to community building through coalitional politics.”
QPOC’s first public event in 2006 entitled “QPOC Expressions” was an evening of performances such as drag and spoken word.
QPOC played a formative role in launching the annual QPOC leadership summit, which celebrated its 12th year last spring. SF State had hoped to host the first summit, held April 29, 2006. However, the group was unable to secure a location on campus so the privilege went to summit collaborators, the Young Queers United for Empowerment at UC Berkeley.
La Familia at UC Davis would also become involved in the planning process and sponsorship of the summit.
San Diego State University performed hosting duties during the summit’s ninth anniversary in 2014. Among the many topics covered were re-envisioning masculinity and femininity, going beyond binaries, recognizing and bridging the communities of queer people of color, queer politics and queer art.
