Michigan Community College Gender & Sexuality Conference

We don’t like to say we’re in unprecedented times, because we are not. We’ve been lucky enough to live in a world that, for a few and for a moment, was the dream of those who marched, fought, and died for our right as queer folks to simply exist as who we are.

But both our history and future are so much bigger. Queerness is as old as humanity, and we can look back at our ancestors surviving and thriving to see we’ve always belonged to this earth.

Yes, the light is dim right now. But queer people have always been our own sun. Whether we are shining on the mountaintop or in the dive bar, in our homes, places of worship, parks, cafes, the ballroom, or everywhere else we’ve always been, it’s through coming together and loving all the beautiful contradictions and overlaps of queerness that we can find ourselves and our home.

We’re proud to be putting on the Michigan Community College Gender & Sexuality Conference (MCCGSC), especially as we enter 2026 in a political and cultural moment that tells so many of our queer family that there is something unnatural, or even evil, about our existence. When institutions betray our community’s trust, it is up to us not to fall into despair, but rise into community, into action, into love.

The MCCGSC’s theme this year is “Queer Pasts & Futures: United We Stand and Divided We Fall.” We invite all who wish to be in community to join us in the vigorous hope and love that got us here and propels us forward in the queer journey.

We hold this conference because we are privileged enough to do so and because opportunities for queer people to gather are actively curbed in academic spaces. We feel it is our duty to create a space for queer folks and their allies to be in community together.

Our goals for the MCCGSC are to:

• Create a space where community college students, faculty, and staff can exchange ideas, present relevant research, and learn from each other.
• Facilitate an accessible conference experience, both in-person and digitally, for students, staff, faculty, and community members. This is what accessibility means to us.
• Provide a life-affirming space that builds community, creating opportunities for intergenerational connection and visibility of diverse queer identities.
• Strengthen collaboration among community colleges, nonprofits, and local organizations to build a united network that actively supports queer belonging and safety.

Disability is not a deficit—it’s a lived experience, a culture, and a source of knowledge. We recognize that disability justice is inseparable from queer liberation, and that our movements share a history of resisting systems that define bodies and minds by their proximity to “normal.”

Accessibility, to us, means expanding access to all aspects of the conference. It means designing spaces, both physical and digital, where everyone can participate fully and authentically.

We understand disability as a collective identity and a political reality, shaped by ableism, racism, colonialism, and other social & material factors—but also as a site of creativity, solidarity, and transformation. In gathering across screens and shared spaces, we aim to build a conference that welcomes and celebrates all people.

We know we have not always embodied the ideal of inclusion with our conference, but we strive to get better each time with new knowledge, feedback, and approaches. We sincerely ask that if you see a way we can be more inclusive, let us know! Email the MCCGSC Committee at [email protected].

A day-of Accessibility Guide will be available prior to the conference.