Columbia Queer Alliance (CQA) is the central

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

student organization that represents

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, gay,

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

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, and questioning

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students. It is the oldest such student organization in the world, originally called the Student Homophile League, established in 1966 and recognized by the university on April 19, 1967.

History

During its first year, the Student Homophile League had about ten members who fought with university administrators until the group was officially recognized. Stephen Donaldson, a

-identified

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist, is commemorated by a plaque and a portrait in the queer student lounge that bears his name, in one of Columbia's residence halls, for spearheading the creation of the group. One of the key issues over which Donaldson clashed with the administration was the right to keep members' names confidential. When the group's charter was finally granted in April 1967, Donaldson sent an announcement to every media outlet he knew, but the only response was a radio interview on WNEW, a New York station, and an article in the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the second-oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', a ...

'', which reported that some students believed the new group was an

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joke. Two weeks later, on May 3, ''

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'' reported the story on its front page. Donaldson later wrote: "The next couple days were frantic as media—which had ignored the press release—suddenly wanted the information I had already given them." Student activists at

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, and

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formed similar groups of their own within two years. More than 150 such student groups had been established by the end of four years.

Activities

Among other activities, the Columbia Queer Alliance has hosted " First Friday Dances" for decades, which at their inception were one of the few places where college-age LGBT people could socialize with one another. Many of the Columbia Queer Alliance's activities have been historically held in Earl Hall, which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2018 in recognition of its role in queer history.

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia Queer Alliance Columbia University student organizations LGBTQ youth organizations based in the United States Civil rights organizations in the United States Youth empowerment organizations History of LGBTQ civil rights in the United States Student organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in New York City LGBTQ culture in New York City