LGBTQ People & Culture to be Explored in April 7 Talk at Cal State East Bay

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Cal State East Bay Librarian Gretchen (Gr) Keer

  • March 25, 2015

Cal State East Bay Librarian Gretchen (Gr) Keer will present “LGBTQ: People, Culture, and Communication,” from 9-10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 7, in the Biella Room in the University Library.

Keer’s presentation is the seventh in the university’s Diversity Development Program series. The presentation will explore the complexities of LGBTQ people. “LGBTQ people are as complex and diverse as the communities from which they originate,” Keer said.

Keer will provide attendees with a brief overview of queer histories, movements, and cultural touchstones. The audience is encouraged to consider their own relationships to LGBTQ cultures and histories, as well as to critically examine their assumptions, misconceptions, and oversimplifications of LGBTQ communities.

Keer has worked at CSU East Bay for two-and-a-half years and has been an academic librarian for 11. Keer prefers to be referred to with the singular pronoun “they.” Personally and professionally, they are dedicated to thinking, learning, teaching, and writing about research justice. They also write poetry, and identify as queer and genderqueer.

The Diversity Development Program features monthly talks by campus experts on topics related to diversity. The presentations are free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can register online at:

The Diversity Development Program is co-sponsored by the Office of Faculty Development, and the Leadership and Employment Enrichment Program.

The final presentation in the 2014-15 Diversity Development Program series will be on May 5. Presenters Kim Geron, chair of the Department of Political Science; My-Lan Huynh, an advisor in Student Life & Leadership and a lecturer in the Department of Hospitality, Recreation & Tourism; and Arnab Mukherjea, an assistant professor in Health Sciences will present “Asian-Americans: People, Culture, and Communication.” The talk will be from 9-10:30 a.m. in the University Library’s Biella Room.