About the Event
Join the Brown University Library for the inaugural event in the Gay at the Hay speaker series, part of the Initiative on Sexualities and Genders. The in-person event will take place on Thursday, October 15, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m. in room 303 at the John Hay Library.
Elizabeth Groeneveld, Professor and Chair of of Women’s and Gender Studies at Old Dominion University, will discuss her book “Lesbian Porn Magazines and the Sex Wars: Reimagining Sex, Power and Intimacy”alongside a showcase of materials from the On Our Backs archive at the Hay.
About the Speaker
Elizabeth Groeneveld (she/they) is a Professor and Department Chair of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Old Dominion University. Her scholarship explores the relationships between queer feminist advocacy and social change. Her publications include “Making Feminist Media: Third-Wave Magazines on the Cusp of the Digital Age”(Laurier University Press, 2016) and “Lesbian Porn Magazines and the Sex Wars: Reimagining Sex, Power, and Identity” (Routledge, 2023).
About the Gay at the Hay Series
This public lecture series showcases the best new scholarship in LGBTQ History by inviting scholars to be in conversation with archival materials held in the Global Lavender Voices collections at the John Hay Library. After each lecture, participants are invited to explore a curated selection of archival materials in the Hay’s Primary Source Lab.
The next event in the series will feature Greta LaFleur, Associate Professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Yale University and the author of “The Natural History of Sexuality in Early America” (Johns Hopkins, 2018). The talk will take place on Thursday, December 3, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m. in room 303 at the John Hay Library. Registration is required.
About the Initiative on Genders and Sexualities
The Initiative on Sexualities and Genders is an incubator for emerging scholarship in LGBTQ Studies. Programs facilitate multi-directional conversations between experts, graduate students and undergraduates about emerging scholarship, critical methods and archival materials in LGBTQ Studies.