Equal Justice University 2024

William Dorsey Swann was born enslaved in Maryland. He was the first person to self-identify as a ""queen of drag"" later became the first person in the US to lead a queer resistance group. After being convicted of "keeping a disorderly house" meaning he ran a brothel, he requested a pardon from President Grover Cleveland. This marked the first time on record that an American requested any right of the LGBTQIA+ community's right to gather.

What he did has evolved over the last 150 years or so resulting in a right to gather, a right to privacy, the right to be married, and now even a right to not be discriminated against in employment. We still have much to go, but I believe in the importance of talking about all this history and where it all began, especially in today's society. This session will go through major legislation, major events, and major Supreme Court cases and how they have redefined what it means to be an American Queer.