Oral history from Curt McKay: Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference

Dublin Core

Title

Oral history from Curt McKay: Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference

Subject

LGBTQ centres
Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference

Description

This oral history from Curt McKay covers the LGBT Resource Center's involvement in the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference (MBLGTACC).

Source

Curt McKay
History Harvest 2021

Date

2021-04-29

Contributor

Kiley Boerema

Format

.mp3

Language

English

Type

sound

Coverage

Urbana, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Duration

6:49

Transcription

Curt McKay: We were able, sort of along with this, every year for maybe the last 20-22 years, a group of students from some college or university in the Midwest would host a big conference for students. It was the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender College Conference, and we always took students. And in those in those days, undergrads even could drive campus vehicles. And so we would find people who were willing to drive, and off we would go to wherever the conference was. I think the first one I went to, we had a blizzard the night before. It was in St. Cloud, Minnesota- St. Cloud State, and off we went you know, three vans traveling up the interstate together. And I had been told the year before, when the conference was at UW Madison, Terry and Jim had said, “Oh, if you go, drive your own car because it's just impossible to get the students together to leave to come home.” And I thought well, let's see. And we needed a driver, so I drove a van figuring that's an easier way for me to get know people. And when we got to- to St. Cloud, it was really cold. And I simply said each year -I went for like eight or nine years- I said, “okay you're responsible for one another. We've got- I've got a phone list of everybody’s cell phones but I don't want to have to use it. You can get ahold of me anytime you need to but, you know, here's when we're leaving, here's where we're meeting before we leave. Just be sure everybody is there.” And they always were. It was never a problem at all. So, each year, we went to the- MBLGTACC is what it became called. And at the end of the first year, on the way back from that St. Cloud conference- the way it was supposed to work, student groups from different universities were supposed to sort of create a bid for the conference, and it would be chosen and you'd have two years to prepare for your conference. Well on the way back, nobody had made a bid for the next year, for 2001. And so the students in one of the vans decided they wanted to put out in a bid. So I said, “okay fine,” not having any idea what it would be, like just imagining how much work it would be, and they did.

And so in 2001 with just nine months to plan a conference, our students put together a really interesting conference with keynote speakers, and entertainment, and small groups, programs created by all kinds of people. And the conference was always in February, so we brought students from 50 schools -about 1100 students- 50 schools all over the Midwest came to campus for all weekend in February- Friday, Saturday, go home Sunday, in February. The students did all the planning. I would say, “okay here's, you know, here's some resources, here's some things you need to think about, some people to contact that might provide resources, or they need to know about the contracts or whatever.” And not too long before it happened, the campus police came to me, and they said, “We really think you should move your program date.” And I said, “why?” And they said, “Well, it turns out that that weekend is the same weekend that the state high school wrestling championships are. And they are the rowdiest groups that we ever have on campus and they're going to be staying at the same hotels you are and who knows what will happen, but we don't think it will be good.” I said, “We can't change, you know it's too big a deal to change. We'll just have to see what happens.” And it worked out fine. There was one example, where at one of the hotels, a bunch of the high school wrestlers came out and were singing to the students, the queer students who were staying at the hotel. It just- it was fine.

Then we go off to you know, following years, we go off to other conferences places like Michigan state, Ohio State, Iowa state. Seems like the furthest one away was in one of the Dakotas. Just, you know, really far away- Indiana. And the students decided in 2006 that they wanted to put a bid in again, and so they did, and this time they had the full two years to plan the conference. They had a budget- I think the budget was well over 50, you know, it's between 50 and $100,000, because I’d learned a lot and they’d learned a lot about who you ask for money on campus. The Student Opportunity- Student Opportunity Resource Fund -SORF- is that still around? Yeah, they were always really generous, and we always tried to make sure we had one of our students on the SORF board because that would help. But they were always very generous in supporting funding for our programs. Again, this time, I think we had about 1500 students from 50 schools in 15 states. So the conference still exists. This year because of COVD it got put off from February, and I think it's going to be in October at UW Madison again. So I’m sort of hoping, I can drive up from Rockford and hang out a bit.

Interviewer

Kiley Boerema
Marcelo Vargas
Anna Rataj
Zach Batio

Interviewee

Curt McKay

Location

virtual

Citation

“Oral history from Curt McKay: Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference,” Omeka, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historyharvest.web.illinois.edu/omeka/items/show/277.

Output Formats