Who We Are

 To talk about work, we need to talk about paid work, under-paid work, unpaid work, forced work, domestic work, sex work, collective work, movement work, creative work, and care work. Whose work gets valued, and by whom? How do different forms of work reproduce or challenge social hierarchies? How can we apply what we learn in asking these questions to our own lives and organizing?

This year's conference brings together activists, scholars, and performers to address the lived experiences of queer and trans people in their working lives. 

We come to these questions and conversations with humility, hoping that they may serve as starting points for conversations and collaborations around work and class justice in many queer and trans communities.

Swarthmore College's annual Queer and Trans Conference (QTC) is a student-run, free, and public conference that explores critical topics of queer and trans thinking, playing, working, organizing, and living. The planning committee is a group of students of all gender, sexual, racial, and ethnic identities, class years, and class backgrounds committed to radical queer and trans community building and justice. Each year we invite a group of activists, scholars, and artists to join queer and trans students, faculty, and staff and their friends within Swarthmore College, nearby schools, and the greater Philadelphia area for a weekend of learning, discussion, and performance around a theme relevant to the histories and lives of our communities. We invite a diverse group of presenters who will help us to re-center queer and trans discourse around voices and perspectives marginalized by mainstream gay rights movements. Our conference spotlights the fabulous work of queer and trans people of color, people with dis/abilities, indigenous, poor, and (im)migrant people. When possible, we bring individuals and groups who live and work locally and those who are structurally denied access to resources available to us at Swarthmore.

In past years, conferences and symposiums have explored sexual politics of the bedroom, boardroom, and classroom; queer media; queer coalition building; the intersections of race, religion, and gender; queer and trans activism; debates around same-sex marriage; and queer families and homes. This year's conference, "Queers at Work," seeks to address and begin conversations about the lived experiences of queer and trans people in their working lives.

The Queer and Trans Conference Planning Committee is committed accommodating the needs of all conference presenters and guests. For more information on accessibility, click here.

This Year's Sponsors

The 2013 Queer and Trans Conference, "Queers at Work," is sponsored by the Intercultural Center, Deans Office, President's Office, Forum for Free Speech, Student Budget Committee, with support from Art and Art History Department, Asian Studies Program, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Educational Studies Department, English Literature Department, History Department, Latin American Studies Program, Libraries, Modern Languages and Literatures Department, Sociology and Anthropology Department, Theater Department, Lang Center of Civic and Social Responsibility, Career Services, Movie Committee, Olde Club, Sager Fund, and Swarthmore Queer Union (SQU).

Past Conferences

QTC continues the 20-year long tradition of the Sager Symposium, held at Swarthmore College from 1988-2008. The corresponding Sager Fund, founded by and named for alumnus Richard Sager '73, was used to combat homophobia and related discrimination by promoting events with focus on concerns of the lesbian, bisexual and gay communities. The Sager Symposium was planned by a committee of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators.