Campus News

Coley Lecture in LGBT Studies to focus on youth homelessness

Brandon Andrew Robinson (Submitted Photo)

Brandon Andrew Robinson, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, will deliver the 28th annual Andrea Carson Coley Lecture in LGBT Studies on April 22 at 12:30 p.m.

The lecture, “Coming Out to the Streets: LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness,” will take place virtually on Zoom. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

In this presentation, Robinson will be discussing their book “Coming Out to the Streets: LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness.” Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in central Texas, the book looks into the lives of LGBTQ youth before they experience homelessness—within their families, schools and other institutions—and later when they navigate the streets, deal with police, and access shelters and other services. Through this documentation, Robinson shows how poverty and racial inequality shape the ways that the LGBTQ youth negotiate their gender and sexuality before and while they are experiencing homelessness.

In addition to authoring “Coming Out to the Streets,” Robinson co-authored “Race & Sexuality” and has published in numerous peer-review journals, including Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage & Family and Sociology of Race & Ethnicity. Robinson’s work provides new theoretical frameworks and concepts to help understand LGBTQ life today and contributes to working toward social change.

The Andrea Carson Coley Lecture, hosted by the UGA Institute for Women’s Studies, was endowed through a donation from Andrew and Kathy Coley in memory of their daughter, Andrea Carson Coley (1972-1993), who was a certificate candidate in women’s studies. Each spring, the lecture brings to campus scholars conducting cutting-edge research in LGBT studies.

This year’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Art and the UGA Pride Center.

The Institute for Women’s Studies is part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. For more information on the Institute for Women’s Studies, see http://iws.uga.edu.