UW–Madison to host the 2021 Midwest Bixexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference

At the 28th annual Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference (MBLGTACC), organizers announced that the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host next year’s MBLGTACC, February 12–14, 2021, at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. More than 2,000 college students, faculty, and staff around the Midwest and beyond are expected to attend.

MBLGTACC is the largest, continuously held and student-run conference in the United States. The event gives attendees opportunities to connect with and empower other LGBTQ+ college students. MBLGTACC prides itself on being a conference for students put on by students, focusing on various topics that are relevant and popular with current Midwest LGBTQ+ students.

The conference theme will be “From Protest and Beyond Pride,” commemorating the roots of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in protests and celebrating LGBTQ+ pride as a manner to resist, heal, and thrive. It also reflects Madison’s history of social movements.

“UW-Madison is so excited and proud to host MBLGTACC in February 2021,” says Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Gabe Javier. “We can’t wait to show off our vibrant college town and help engage students in important conversations about the future of LGBTQ+ people as changemakers on their campuses and in society. My first MBLGTACC was in Madison, WI in 2010, and I’m excited to help welcome people to what will surely be an amazing experience in 2021.”

Bringing the conference back to Madison after 11 years, the MBLGTACC 2021 team will highlight community and social justice, acknowledging that queer cultures embody communal resistance against structural discrimination and oppression. The theme, “From Protest and Beyond Pride,” is a declaration to challenge powers of colonialism, racism, and heteronormativity. With this theme, MBLGTACC 2021 will expose injustice against racialized and queered bodies and demand that LGBTQ+ experiences be celebrated.

MBLGTACC is a program of the Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, an organization that provides institutional support, leadership guidance, and financial advice to the students who organize the annual conference. This year, the UW–Madison Gender and Sexuality Campus Center (GSCC) will support student organizers with conference planning.

The GSCC welcomes suggestions and participation from the larger community to make the conference more inclusive, more accessible, and a richer experience for all attendees. Registration information, a call for workshop proposals, as well as the line-up of speakers and entertainers will be announced later. The organizing committee is also recruiting volunteers.

For more information about MBLGTACC 2021, please contact Warren Scherer, Director of Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, warren.scherer@wisc.edu, (608) 265-3344. Please check the official conference website (https://mblgtacc.org/2021) and the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mblgtacc).