Happy International Women's Day from LGBTQ+ Western

March 8, 2024

LGBTQ+ Western is proud to celebrate International Women's Day. First observed in 1911, International Women's Day is "a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Each year, this day serves as a powerful reminder of the progress made towards gender equality and highlights the work that still needs to be done." (IWD, 2024)

This year's theme is Inspire Inclusion which emphasizes the importance of diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and equity in all aspects of society.

I want to emphasize the importance of intersectionality when discussing International Women's Day. Often women with other intersectional privileged identities such as able-bodied, neurotypical, white, cisgender, and heterosexual women may get a larger spotlight then women with intersectional multiple marginalized identities such as disabled women, queer women, older women, girls, and especially trans women. We cannot celebrate International Women's Day without also celebrating the intersectional identities women around the world hold.

And for men and folks of other genders, we have a responsibility to use this day, and every day, to hold ourselves and others accountable, learn more about inequity women experience, and advocate for equity for all women.

Please join LGBTQ+ Western and the larger Western Washington University community in celebrating International Women's Day! You can learn more about the Inspire Inclusion theme here.

JoeHahn, Ayanna Phillips, and the LGBTQ+ Western Team

Two smiling women pose in front of a brick wall in New York City in the 1970s.

Elizabeth Wood, left, and Catharine R. Stimpson, right, at the West Side Highway docks in New York City, 1977. Photo by Martha Nelson, courtesy of Elizabeth Wood.

Western Washington University in partnership with CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival will host “‘Love Letters’: A Film Screening and Conversation with Catharine R. Stimpson, Elizabeth Wood, and Greta Schiller,” in celebration of International Women’s Day today, Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage. The event is free and open to the public.

Tickets can be obtained online, or by visiting or calling the WWU PAC Box Office. For more information about ticketing, please contact the WWU PAC Box Office at (360) 650-6146.

“Love Letters” follows the remarkable love story of professor and feminist scholar Catharine R. Stimpson and musicologist Elizabeth Wood, and includes the story of Wood’s landmark 1970s legal victory in Australia to gain custody of her children. Both women, now in their 80s, recall a time when the desire to live authentically and openly, and to love unapologetically, was itself a radical act. Wood and Stimpson are motivated to tell their story now, as once again a younger generation rises to battle the forces of the patriarchy that seek to suppress their fundamental human rights. The screening will be followed by a moderated panel discussion featuring both the main subjects of the film, Stimpson and Wood, and the award-winning film director and producer Greta Schiller.  Learn more about the wonderful women this film centers and the director here.

This event is sponsored by Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections; CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival; the Western Foundation; WWU’s Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and LGBTQ+ Western.

Our office will be tabling in the lobby from 6:30-7:30 if you would like to receive free pronoun pins, information about our services, and get a sneak peak of our Gaypril programming!