The University of Toledo will celebrate LGBTQA History Month with several events this October.

The Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success, LGBTQA Initiatives and Spectrum UT are dedicated to serving the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied students.

“I believe LGBTQA History Month is important to recognize because it signifies to the entire community that LGBTQA individuals are as valid and worthy of celebration as anyone else,” LaVelle Ridley, president of Spectrum UT, said. “The fact that we are able to put on events in celebration of our heritage demonstrates The University of Toledo’s commitment to fostering diversity, especially among students.”

Listed by date, events scheduled to increase awareness for LGBTQA History Month include:

Wednesday, Oct. 1

• “Taking Pride in Our History” by Tyler Quinn Parkins, UT student, 12:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2500.

• Marriage Equality Reception, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2500.

Thursday, Oct. 2

• Spectrum Hate Crimes Candlelight Vigil, 8 to 10 p.m., Student Union Steps.

Wednesday, Oct. 8

• National Coming Out Day Celebration, noon to 2 p.m., Student Union Room 2500. Stop by and receive a “Gay? Fine by me” T-shirt and show your support.

Thursday, Oct. 9

• Spectrum Meeting on Transgender Community and Identity, 8 to 10 p.m., Student Union Room 2582.

Friday, Oct. 10

• Safe Place — LGBTQA Ally Training, 1 to 4:30 p.m., Rocket Hall Room 1530.

Tuesday, Oct. 14

• OUTLaw Film Screening, “Bridegroom,” 8 to 10 p.m., Law Center Room 1006.

Thursday, Oct. 16

• LGBTQA Short Stories with the Honors Book Club, 4 to 5 p.m., International House Multipurpose Room.

• Spectrum Drag/Talent Show, 8 to 10 p.m., Rocky’s Attic in the Student Union.

Monday, Oct. 20

• Honors Film Screening, “Beginners,” 8 to 10 p.m., MacKinnon Hall Room 1370.

Tuesday, Oct. 21

• All Love Photo Shoot, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2500. Free professional shoot that will provide prints to all participants.

Thursday, Oct. 23

• Spectrum UT Film Screening, “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” 8 to 10 p.m., Student Recreation Center Oak Room.

Tuesday, Oct. 28

• “Queering Blackness: Representations of Black LGBTQ Figures” by LaVelle Ridley, student in the Jesup Scott Honors College and president of Spectrum UT, 5 to 6 p.m., Student Union Room 2591.

Thursday, Oct. 30

• Kenote address by writers Carl Phillips and Mark Doty, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Student Union Room 2592. Phillips is a professor of English and African and Afro-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and his books include The Art of Daring: Risk, Relentlessness, Imagination (2014), Silverchest (2013), and Quiver and Arrows: Selected Poems, 1986-2006 (2007). Doty won the 2008 National Book Award for Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems, and his Dog Years was a New York Times bestseller in 2007.

Friday, Oct. 31

• Spectrum UT Halloween Ball, 8 to 10 p.m., Student Union Room 2582.

For more information on these events, call the UT Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Success at 419.530.2261.