MIT hosts 'Queer Bible Studies' in its ‘Rainbow Lounge’
LBGTQ+ Services at MIT, an 'Intercultural Campus Resource for Diverse Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Identities,' is in charge of the lounge.
The LBGTQ+ organization also provides resources allowing students to change their name and gender on academic records and student identification cards.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) allows students to rent out a Rainbow Lounge for various events and meetings.
LBGTQ+ Services at MIT, an “Intercultural Campus Resource for Diverse Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Identities,” is in charge of the lounge.
LBGTQ+ Services partners with Harvard University to hold a Queer Bible Study Group in the Lounge that meets on Thursdays. The group hopes to “create a queer- and trans-affirming Christian space in which we can bring the fullness of our lives, desires, and selves into conversation with the good news of Jesus Christ.”
In May, MIT’s Lavender Graduation was held in the Rainbow Lounge.
The Lavender Graduation was open to all LBGTQ+ graduates from 2020-2022 to participate in, and included an after-party for ‘Alumnx.’
[RELATED: These universities are hosting Lavender Graduations this spring]
In April, the LBGTQ+ services at MIT partnered with SPXCE to hold a Block Party Mixer. SPXCE aims to provide students with “intersectional social justice education.”
The LBGTQ+ organization also provides resources allowing students to change their name and gender on academic records and student identification cards. Students at MIT can change the name that appears on their academic records, including their diploma, without legally changing their name.
In June, a movie night is set to be held at the Rainbow Lounge. The scheduled film is Fire Island, a movie in which “[a] group of queer best friends gather in the Fire Island Pines for their annual week of love and laughter, but when a sudden change of events jeopardizes their summer in gay paradise, their bonds as a chosen family are pushed to the limit.”
[RELATED: Notre Dame establishes ‘Alumni Rainbow Community’ for LGTBQ graduates]
Books that the LBGTQ+ organization has recommended include Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East and Spectrums, a book written by autistic transgender individuals.
If a student wants to reserve the Rainbow Lounge for his or her own purposes, he or she must fill out a form. The form asks students to “[p]lease remember to wear masks when not eating and keep apart.”
MIT and LGBTQ+ Services did not respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment.
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