Students interested in engaging in LGBT discussion over lunch have the option every Thursday through events hosted by the LGBT Resource Center and the LGBT Studies Program.

The LGBT Resource Center hosts Northern Pride Lunches from noon to 1 p.m. in the Blackhawk Cafeteria East Meeting Room every Thursday.

Patricia Liberty-Baczek, LGBT Resource Center administrative assistant, said the purpose of the Northern Pride Lunches are to provide a safe space for informal conversation.

“Networking, program ideas, and whatever needs an individual may have comes out of these discussions,” Liberty-Baczek said.

The LGBT Studies Third Thursday series takes the place of Northern Pride Lunch on the third Thursday of the month and are held in the Blackhawk Annex instead of the Blackhawk Cafeteria East Meeting Room.

“LGBT Studies and the Resource Center are allies, but we have different foci,” said Kristen Myers, LGBT studies coordinator and sociology professor. “The Resource Center is the Student Affairs wing of the alliance, and we are the academic wing. Our lunches are centered around scholarship and building an intellectual community of people concerned with LGBT issues. Theirs are focused on a variety of issues, too, but they tend to be primarily student-centered.”

A variety of issues within the LGBT community are discussed during the Third Thursday Series, such as the most recent presentation, “Through the Looking Glass: Researching LGBT Organizations” by Robert Ridinger of University Libraries.

Myers said faculty, staff and students make presentations, get feedback and stimulate conversation among those in attendance through discussing a number of topics, including activist movements, the law, the US Census, themes in literature and television, among others.