UMass Boston's LGBTQ grad ceremony to feature 'local Drag Queens'

The Queer Student Center (QSC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) is set to host a “Lavender Graduation” for members of the “LGBTQ+ community” on May 10.

The ceremony is described as “a celebration of UMass Boston’s graduating LGBTQ+ students” and will feature “drag performances from local Drag Queens.”

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The keynote speaker at the graduation will be Shaplaie Brooks, the executive director of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, a Massachusetts state agency that makes policy recommendations regarding LGBTQ youth.

Lavender Graduation ceremonies have taken place at UMass Boston since at least 2014, according to QSC’s Facebook events page.

[RELATED: University of Oklahoma plans to hold identity-based graduation ceremonies]

Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group, tracks which colleges are hosting lavender graduations by state, finding that at least 18 other colleges in Massachusetts are hosting such graduations, including Brandeis University, Boston College, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Campus Reform recently covered similar graduation plans exclusively for minority identity-based groups across the country. In April, Campus Reform examined 17 colleges with segregated graduate ceremonies, twelve of which have a ceremony for LGBTQ students.

Campus Reform contacted all parties mentioned for comment, but they have yet to respond. This article will be updated accordingly.