UNLV's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) Student Services Steering Committee will host a series of activities during the month of October to promote understanding, acceptance, and support of GLBT students, faculty, and staff.

Activities will include presentations by special guest speakers and will feature several GLBT-themed films.

On Oct. 4, Warren J. Blumenfield will speak on "Homophobia: How We All Pay The Price" at 7 p.m. in the Classroom Building Complex, Room A-108. Blumenfield, who is the founder and director of the National Gay Student Center, is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is the principal author of Making Colleges and Universities Safe for Gay and Lesbian Students: Report and Recommendations of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.

Blumenfield is the coauthor of the book Looking at Gay and Lesbian Life, editor of the book Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, and author of AIDS and Your Religious Community. He also co-produced the documentary film Pink Triangles, which focuses on the topic of homophobia.

On Oct. 24, U.S. Rep. Sabrina Sojourner will present "Diversity and Living by the Heart: Visioning the Global, Working the Personal." The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Classroom Building Complex, Room A-106.

A past director of the Women of Color and Diversity Programs for the National Organization for Women, Sojourner has developed a variety of programs that focus on building bridges of understanding across differences, including race, gender, and sexual orientation. She is also the author of a collection of poems, Psychic Scars and Other Mad Thoughts. Sojourner, who represents the District of Columbia, is the first open lesbian to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

In addition to the lectures presented, the films below will be shown on the dates listed at 6:30 p.m. at the following locations:

-- Oct. 3, Torch Song Trilogy, Classroom Building Complex, Room A-106.
-- Oct. 5, Better Than Chocolate, Classroom Building Complex, Room A-108.
-- Oct. 11, Trick, Classroom Building Complex, Room A-108.
-- Oct. 13, Chasing Amy, Classroom Building Complex, Room A-108.
-- Oct. 17, It's in the Water, Classroom Building Complex, Room A-106.
-- Oct. 25, Boy's Don't Cry, Wright Hall, Room 103.

After each film, a discussion will be held.

All of the events are free and open to the public, and all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, are welcome to participate.

Funding for the events has been provided through a UNLV Planning Initiative Award with additional support from the Jean Nidetch Women's Center.

For more information, contact Terry Piper, associate vice president for student life and chair of the GLBT student services steering committee, at 895-1482, or visit the website http:www.unlv.edu/studentserv/GLBT/.