love will keep us together, or love will tear us apart, again. either way, we’ll talk about it – how love of music advanced the gay rights movement, how “reparative therapy” attempts to change who people love, and how love for an idea causes it to spread.

co-sponsored by the Lied Center.

Doors at 7, earlier than ever before! Presentations at 8! at the ballroom at Pachamama’s (8th and New Hampshire)

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featuring:

How Gay Men’s Choruses Helped Shape the Gay Rights Movement (1978-Today) by Bill Bowersock, Show Producer for the it gets better production

Let’s take a walk through history. It all started around the time Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office, was assassinated in San Francisco (1978). Since that time, gay men’s choruses around the world have played an instrumental role in the gay rights movement. From political and religious issues to AIDS and bullying, gay men’s choruses have been a hub for social change. Who knew?

Bill has been a singing member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles since 1993. For most of the last 18 years he has been their concert producer. A performer from the age of eight, Bill sang with the nationally known group The Establishment. He has produced film and worked as a composer in both film and television. As a songwriter, he has earned two Top-40 hits, a gold single and a platinum album. Bill is from Kansas City, a graduate of KU and is currently a realtor in Los Angeles.

Reparative Therapy: A Nerdy Perspective on a Hot Social Issue by Ruth Ann Atchley, Ph.D.

Reparative therapy, also known as conversion therapy, is an often controversial treatment that aims to change sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Dr. Atchley will explore a brief history of this type of therapy. She will also review the American Psychological Association’s (APA) recommendations about this therapy and how the APA uses science to decide what therapies are more or less effective.

Dr. Atchley is the department chair and associate professor in the KU Department of Psychology. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside in 1997. Her research is in cognitive and clinical psychology and she is currently engaged in both psychophysiological and behavioral research.

Galileo’s Finger and the Diffusion of Innovations by Liesel Reinhart, Writer and Director

Want to find out how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures? How about visiting some of the world’s most interesting “early adopters?” Seriously, what is up with Alfred Wegener and that crazy idea of continental drift? Why on earth did Galileo’s followers cut off his fingers and keep them in a jar?

Liesel the co‐artistic director of LA‐based Speak Theater Arts and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Mt. San Antonio College. Liesel is the co‐writer of the nationally touring work N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK and collaborated with the Speak Theater Arts team to create and direct ArmeniaMania and Woke Up In America. She is also a long-time member the board of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. Liesel’s academic pursuits address a range of subjects, including group performance, oral interpretation, gender and ethnicity, and learning assessments in higher education.