BV Quest.org

Archive for the 'about' Category

New Phone Number: 979 271 1023

November 22nd 2007 Posted to about, news

As of 15-December, our old phone number (979 314 4532) will no longer work. We now have a Grand Central account and a new number.

          979 271 1023

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BV QueSt staff

November 09th 2007 Posted to about

BV QueSt Coordinating Committee

info@BVQueSt.com
979.271.1023		 printable .pdf
editable .xls

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Pictures

August 17th 2007 Posted to GAYla, about

Pictures from events
(used with permission from identifiable guests)

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501(c)(3) non-profit

June 18th 2007 Posted to about

Brazos Valley QueSt is proud to announce our newly obtained 501(c)(3) status! We are now, officially a pure non-profit!

While this comes with a few hoops for us, it also opens doors and grants us more opportunities to help the community.

The application process was lengthy and thorough; they really wanted to know every detail of our work! Since almost all of our procedures and policies mimicked those of a non-profit (abstinence from all political endeavors, monies raised are used for non-profit purposes, etc.), it was fairly easy to prove our intent. And, we just have to tweak a couple of paper-trail items to be in full compliance with our new status!

Thanks go to a couple of volunteers out there for offering advice and assistance. Thank you, especially, to Mike, Tom, and Lori for all their hard work during this process. (Read the article)

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Faculty Network status

May 01st 2007 Posted to about

Brazos Valley QueSt is proud to announce that we have received our official “Faculty Network” status from Texas A&M University.

This is a benefit to our faculty and staff volunteers because they can now volunteer some of their time for BV QueSt (running short, on-campus errands; checking email; etc.) while “on the clock”. This is a huge convenience, especially for some of members of our Coordinating Committee.

Thank you, Dean of Faculties, for approving our application.

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Texas A&M Network

February 15th 2007 Posted to about

On Wednesday, February 14, 2007, Interim President Eddie J. Davis approved the recognition of Brazos Valley QueSt as an official Texas A&M University faculty/staff network.

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Why “queer”? Or, What is GLBTQQIAPA?

February 08th 2007 Posted to about

We occasionally get asked why we use the word queer in our organization name and tagline. Some of our supporters are afraid that others may find it offensive. Frankly, some do.

We struggled–for a while–with a name for our group that is descriptive of us and our mission, that was inclusive, and that didn’t repeat or mimic a name already in use by other groups.

Programming to the queer and queer-supportive community includes a lot of “alphabet soup”. To be complete and accurate, we’d need to include all of these words to describe the whole community:

  • Gay
  • Lesbian
  • Bisexual
  • Transgender
  • Queer
  • Questioning
  • Intersex
  • Asexual
  • Pansexual

GLBTQQIAP (or, GLBTQQIAPA if you tack ally onto the end.) Whew! This makes our name, website, and marketing quite difficult to explain. And what’s worse, is that every few years, another letter is added as another sub-culture is defined. And with those additions, our name would change frequently, thereby killing annual marketing efforts for events like the GAYla–never mind causing us to have to change our website name on a regular basis.

Additionally, in this community, we have a large population who are only at the first/initial stage of understanding queer culture. They might be able to get their brain around gay and lesbian. At this early stage of learning, bisexual can be a confusing term. And then they are lost on the rest of the words. (Remember, not all of our supporters have been through Aggie ALLIES training.) It’s just too much all at once…and certainly can’t be explained in a 30-second Public Service Announcement advertising our fundraiser.

Mainstream and pop culture gave us the answer. We noticed several flavors of “Queer Eye…” makeover shows, “Queer As Folk”, and other programming that used the word queer. In high schools and on college campuses across the country, most student organizations are named “Queer Straight Alliance” or something very similar. We also found dominant use of the word on the Internet.

Of course, we realized that our area can be a little behind the times of mainstream culture, so we asked around. We took an informal survey of ~15 people we knew to be active in the community. The vast majority preferred the word queer (as opposed to GLBT…). Those who didn’t care for the word queer also didn’t have other suggestions beyond GLBT…

The most all-encompassing word is queer. While used as a derogatory term in the 70s and 80s, the GLBTQQIAPA community has “taken back” this word in the same way that many women have taken vagina.

So, while we wait for the English language to catch up to our social cultures, we are

Brazos Valley QueSt
On a QueSt to Unite Our Queer/Straight Community

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BV QueSt Events

September 01st 2006 Posted to GAYla, Homecoming, about

Brazos Valley QueSt typically coordinates two fundraising events per year.

  • The annual Fall Homecoming is held mid-October, on the Saturday of/after National Coming Out Day (October 11th) and welcomes Aggies, former students, and former residents back to Aggieland to reunite and raise money for a queer/ally scholarship fund.
  • The annual Spring GAYla is an exciting themed fundraiser and celebration. Proceeds from GAYla go to support Aggie ALLIES and the BV QueSt OUTreach Grant, which are available for local queer and queer-supportive organizations.

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