About Us

The History of the Stonewall Center

A series of homophobic incidents in 1984 led to protests and the development of a report on the campus climate for lesbian, gay, and bisexual students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. One of the report’s main recommendations was the creation of the Program for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns. The Program was established in fall 1985 as an administrative office in the Student Affairs. In 1995, the Program for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns was renamed “The Stonewall Center: A Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Educational Resource Center.”

When we opened in 1985, The Stonewall Center was just the third center of its kind on a college campus. Our center has served as a model for many other colleges and universities, and today more than one hundred LGBT campus centers and offices exist across the United States and Canada.

For more than twenty years, The Stonewall Center has served the campus and surrounding community by providing cultural and educational programming, a video and book library, a Speakers Bureau on LGBT issues, information and referrals, support for individuals who experience harassment and discrimination, advocacy for LGBT people at UMass Amherst, and community outreach through QueerE, our weekly listserv of LGBT campus and community events.

Feel free to visit our office from 9-5 Monday through Friday or contact us by phone or electronically.