Queer Activist Collective (“Q”)

The Queer Activist Collective (“Q”) is Boston University’s largest LGBTQ+ student organization dedicated to ensuring the awareness, visibility, and full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to creating programming that is uplifting and affirming for all LGBTQ+ community members. As a majority QTBIPOC and TGNCI Executive Board, we are especially passionate about supporting and advocating for communities that are often excluded from mainstream LGBTQ+ spaces.

In the absence of an official, student-serving LGBTQ+ resource center at BU, we strive to connect and provide BU community members with the resources, support, and community they need and deserve.

We host weekly programming that includes events such as mental and sexual health workshops, BU faculty & staff panels, Know Your Rights legal workshops, game nights, allyship workshops, charity drag shows, and much more. We also work on initiatives as needed to ensure the needs of LGBTQ+ students are being met.

For questions, more info on how to get involved, help connecting with resources, or ideas on how we can better support you and the LGBTQ+ community at BU, please email us at queer@bu.edu! 

Programming
Check out our Fall 2022 programming here.
Click here to check out past programming we’ve had! 

 

We strive to ensure our meetings are safe & accessible for all LGBTQ+ folks. Please contact us at queer@bu.edu for questions about accessibility or to request an accommodation (e.g. ASL Interpreters, Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART); assistive listening devices; hearing or induction loops) no later than 10 business days prior to the event. All locations will be mobility accessible. All-gender bathrooms will be located nearby all venues (click here for a map of their locations).

Current Initiatives

Community Spaces

  • TGNC Community Space: for BU students who are transgender, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, gender-transcendant, or questioning
  • QTBIPOC Community Space: for BU students who are LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color 
  • Ace/Aro Community Space: for BU students who are asexual &/or aromantic

Gender-Affirming Product Program (GAPP): a program that provides direct gender-affirming support to TGNCI/non-cis BU students by providing them with a free gender-affirming product of their choice. This program is affiliated with Q & has been created & led entirely by TGNCI/non-cis BU students. It is currently not funded or supported in any long-term, official capacity by BU. Learn more about the program here!

Accessible BU Housing for TGNCI Students: the goal of this initiative is to ensure BU Housing is inclusive of & accessible to TGNCI students at BU. This is a short-term initiative that will end once our goals have been accomplished. Learn more about the barriers along with our proposed solutions & action steps you can take here & sign the petition here.

LGBTQIA+ BU Student Task Force: This Task Force is a student and alum-led initiative whose mission is to ensure BU’s LGBTQIA+ students receive the institutional support and visibility they deserve. Learn more here.

Click here to learn more about how you can support these initiatives as part of our Initiative Committee!
Past Initiatives

BU Out List: visibility, connectedness, & sharing of resources among LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, students, & the larger Boston University community. Click here to check it out!

Lavender Graduation: Lavender Graduation is an event held to recognize the achievements & contributions of the graduating class of LGBTQ+ students at BU. Our goal is also to inspire future generations of queer students to make noise & advocate for change. This initiative was a collaboration between Q and the LGBTQIA+ Faculty & Staff Community Network. In Spring 2022, we held BU’s first-ever Lavender Graduation! Learn more about it here.

BU Pride: In June of 2020, Q started the annual tradition of hosting a series of events during the month of June to celebrate and uplift LGBTQ+ folks at BU, as well as educate allies.

Our priority continues to be to center & uplift the voices & experiences of QTBIPOC, TGNCI folks, & other communities within the LGBTQ+ community that have historically been excluded from Pride celebrations. We must not forget that Pride began as a protest led by trans & gender nonconforming people of color—such as Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormé DeLarverie—against police brutality & other forms of systemic oppression. It is our responsibility to honor our ancestors’ accomplishments; we must continue the fight for BIPOC Trans Liberation, & we must do so mindfully, inclusively, & intersectionally.

In 2021, we partnered with the LGBTQIA+ Faculty & Staff Community Network, & in 2022, we expanded our collaboration to include the LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff. Check out our Pride programming here.

LGBTQ+ Resources

Check out our comprehensive LGBTQ+ resource guides, which include info such as support groups, free therapy options, legal guidance, financial assistance, helplines, upcoming wellness events, and more:

BU-Specific Resources

These resource guides can also be found at linktr.ee/BULGBTQResources.

Stay in Touch With Q

  • Follow us on Instagram (@bostonuq)
  • Subscribe to our weekly newsletter where we share events, resources, opportunities, & more
  • Join our Discord to connect with LGBTQ+ students outside of Q
  • Connect with us on LinkedIn
  • Email us anytime at queer@bu.edu