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Society of American Archivists
Council Meeting
Chicago, IL
Diverse Sexuality and Gender Section: Annual Report
(Prepared by Jordi Padilla-Delgado)
Year: 2024- 2025
Current Rosters:
-Jordi Padilla-Delgado. Senior Co-chair 2024-2026
-A R Flynn. Junior Co-chair / Elected Senior Co-chair 2025-2026
-Kate Burns. Social Media and Web Liaison 2025-2027
-Lou Hines. Steering Committee Member 2024-2026
-Max Flowers. Steering Committee Member 2024-2026
-Council Liaison: Joyce Gabiola and Michelle Ganz
(Please indicate all projects and activities that your component group has completed this year, continues to work on, or plans to implement in the following fiscal year.)
Completed:
1-The SAA Council approval of Section's Standing Rules revision and update.
2-The launching of the Section’s blog, ARCHIVES IN RAINBOW (AIR).
3-The webinar LGBTQIA2S+ Archives Young Professionals held during the Section’s Annual Meeting.
Ongoing:
1-The consolidation of AIR.
2-The collaboration with the SAA Diversity Committee.
New:
1- A coordination program to harmonize the Section’s presence on the Internet through its three channels, the microsite, the blog and the Facebook page.
2-A webinars program.
3-A plan to collaborate and coordinate with other similar organizations: the Rainbow Round Table of the American Association of Libraries, RRT-ALA; the Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity Working Group of the International Council on Archives, ICA-SAGDAA-WG; the Nordic Network of Queer Heritage and Archives, NNQHA.
4-The incorporation of two Early Career Members to the Section.
(Please review the current Strategic Plan and indicate below how the component group has or plans to contribute to one or more of the four
main goals.)
The proposed and approved update of the Section’s Standing Rules address specifically the point 5 in the Core Organizational Values of the SAA Strategic Plan 2023-25 (ensuring transparency, accountability, integrity, professionalism, and social responsibility in conducting its activities) and the following points from goals 2, 3 and 4:
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2.4. Foster communities for professional interaction.
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3.4. Support the development of executive leadership skills and encourage participation in leadership opportunities by archivists in all stages of their careers.
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4.1. Facilitate effective communication with and among members.
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4.2. Create opportunities for members to participate fully in the association.
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4.3. Foster an inclusive association and profession through educational and leadership opportunities.
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4.4. Ensure that leaders are accessible and that their work is transparent.
Also, the reached visibility of the Section’s work through its channels has an impact related to points 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4.
The collaboration with RRT-ALA, ICA-SAGDAA-WG and NNQHA impacts directly on point 3.3.
Goal 1: Advocating for Archives and Archivists
Goal 2: Enhancing Professional Growth
Goal 3: Advancing the Field
Goal 4: Meeting Members' Needs
Number of attendees: 25-30 attendees
Link to meeting minutes:
Summary of meeting activities and highlights:
The 37th Annual Meeting of the SAA-DSGS was held on July 7, 2025, and coincided with the webinar LGBTQIA2S+ Archives Young Professionals. So, the meeting consisted of two parts, beginning with a brief reminder of the Annual Report. After the report, we enjoyed the presentation of two different experiences related to LGBTQIA2S+ oral history projects by two young but very interesting professionals, David Advent and Carmela Furio.
We started at 11.00 pm introducing the current Steering Committee Members. Then we passed to present the activities and goals achieved during the last year:
Point 1. We have currently 337 members in the Section and have held two meetings of the Steering Committee, in October and December. It’s important to have a fluid and frequent dialogue among the Section’s members, whether it’s through virtual meetings, email or SAA Connect or any other channel.
Point 2. Finally, and after a seven years-process, the SAA Council approved the updated Section’s Standing Rules. Through this update we have adapted the Section’s rules to the current SAA standards. The changes primarily affect the Steering Committee Members' terms and the creation of two new positions: Social Media Liaison and Programming Coordinator. I invite you to consult the Rules, they are available on the Section’s Microsite.
Point 3. We have launched the Section’s blog and newsletter, Archives In Rainbow (AIR). The first post was published in October, and we now have 13 posts and nearly two-thousand views, half of which are thanks to post number 8, dedicated to the Mazer Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles. AIR averages one hundred and fifty views per post. The blog aims to be a hub for information and insight into the world of LGBTQIA2S+ archives and archivists, as well as a meeting place for the Section members and anyone else interested in the topic.
Points 4 and 5 refer to the relationship between the Section and other Society committees and programs, such as the Diversity Committee and the Early Career Members Program.
And point 6 refers to the webinar on young professionals we were holding to better understand the work of young archivists in relation to LGBTQIA2S+ archives and collections.
Then we moved on to the Projects for the Next Year:
Point 1. The consolidation of AIR.
Point 2. A coordination program to harmonize the Section’s presence on the Internet through its three channels, the microsite, the blog and the Facebook page.
Point 3. A webinars program. We have also an open position for a Programming Coordinator, but it’s unfilled.
Points 4 and 5. We would like to continue collaborating with other Committees and Sections of the Society, as well as extend it to other external sister organizations, such as the Rainbow Round Table of the American Library Association, and the Sex-Affective and Gender Diversity Archives and Archivists Working Group of the International Council on Archives. I’m also one of the Coordinators of this Group and would be happy to collaborate.
Point 6. We would like to hear about the Section members’ proposals and suggestions. What would you like the Section and its work to be? Perhaps a podcast, or a scholarship to attend next year’s Archives and Records Conference. We are approaching the 40th anniversary of the Section. We can also delve deeper into the Section’s history and its contribution to the Society.
After that we reminded the members to vote in the Section’s election and introduced our two Early Career Members, Madison Newport and Lark Wilson. We had also the participation by our SAA Council Liaison, Joyce Gabiola, who was leaving as SAA Council member.
After thanking Joyce for their work and commitment to the Section, we moved on to enjoying the webinar LGBTQIA2S+ Archives Young Professionals. It was formed by two presentations. David Advent brought us the first one, entitled “Visibility is Survival": Changes to the LGBTQ+ Oral History Inventory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After explaining his experience managing the Oral History Inventory of UW-Madison, we moved on to the second presentation, One Bit at a Time: Initiating Digital Preservation in Queer Community Archive Oral History Projects, by Carmela Furio.
After a round of questions and answers time we close the Meeting with no incidents at 12.00 pm CT thanking all the attendees and inviting them to meet in-person or virtually at the SAA ARCHIVES * RECORDS 2025 in Anaheim.
How would you describe the health or energy of the group, and how engaged are the members?
The health of the Section is good, but it could improve. We on the Steering Committee detect a certain lack of commitment among the Section’s membership, especially when organizing activities for them. We have asked the Section’s members about their preferred activities, but we have received very little interaction on this. It’s difficult for us to know the members’ needs and to get their suggestions.
Did the component group’s leadership encounter any challenges in achieving its goals for the year?
As said, the difficulties when knowing the members' expectations and their needs about what the Section can do for them.
What suggestions do you have for the SAA Council and staff that might help address these challenges in the coming term?
Perhaps a broader campaign to reinforce the members' engagement with the Section. I find it hard to understand why some people register as members of a Section if they then appear to have no interest in participating in its activities, not even as an attendee of meetings or webinars that address topics of interest of the Section.
What questions or concerns do you have for the SAA Council and staff?
Nothing special. Thank you.
Suggest changing to "contributed to one or more of the four main goals," clarifying that component groups don't have to contribute to all four goals necessarily.
Maybe also change to "how the component group has contributed or plans to contribute to" to account for activities that have not been started yet.
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