What does identifying (or not identifying) with the BGLTQ community mean to you?

Identifying with the BGLTQ+ community means a great deal to me now, though it took me a long time--too long, in retrospect--to "come out" or "call in" as a gay/queer person. I came of age during the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, which had a debilitating impact on my sense of self and community during the 1980s and well into the 1990s. But once I came to fully accept who I am, my sense of pride and liberation started to grow, a journey that continues to this day. The queer community at Harvard--dear faculty and staff colleagues, my fabulous students and fellow alums, this wonderfully diverse chosen family--has inspired and sustained me for many, many years.

How, if at all, has your identity shaped your academic and/or professional journey?

After I "came out" in the late 1990s, I started to develop an intellectual and political interest in LGBTQ history, which set in motion a new kind of self-education: researching, reading, and reflecting on works that had never been taught to me; developing new approaches to my teaching and mentoring; becoming part of new communities of support and movements for change; and eventually writing about my own "living queer history" in the context of all this. As the first openly-identified LGBTQ member of the Harvard Kennedy School faculty back in the day, I now teach an annual course, "Queer Nation: LGBTQ Protest, Politics, and Policy in the United States," the first such course in the school's history.

What advice would you give to yourself when you were an undergraduate?

As a young person, I wish someone had given me the following advice: first, love yourself and stop seeking validation and acceptance from people who require your self-denial or erasure; second, find yourself--or your selves--in the histories, literatures, artistic and cultural works that have the courage to radically reimagine and represent all that is "queer" (or better yet: make your own!); third, build your squad of kindred spirits, given and chosen family who get you and nourish you in a world that can sometimes be harsh and unforgiving; and finally, do whatever you need to do to convince yourself that you deserve love and give yourself enough grace when you make mistakes.

What support can you provide to current undergraduate BGLTQ students who are hoping to enter into your field?

I am always eager to support BGLTQ+ students who are searching for their way in this world--personally, politically, professionally, and otherwise! If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out!

What are your areas of expertise?

History of politics and social movements; human rights and cultures of protest; African American and LGBTQ+ histories and literatures; education and public policy; leadership and communications.