THE UNIVERSITY of Reading (UoR) has announced who will be leading this year’s Wolfenden Lecture in June.
The annual event sees academics and leaders in their fields give talks, often focusing on LGBTQ+ topics, and is open to members of the public as well as students and faculty at the university.
This year, it will be led by Dr Drew Dalton, a senior lecturer in Sociology and founder and chair of global human rights charity ReportOUT.
He will be joined by World, European, and Paralympic rowing champion Lauren Rowles MBE as a special guest, as well as UoR LGBT+ staff network chair Dr Ruvi Zeigler and Diversity and Inclusion dean Dr Allán Laville.
As the founder and chair of ReportOUT, Dr Dalton has led the charity’s award-winning work supporting and protecting the human rights of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) minorities.
He is also a senior lecturer in Sociology and the Programme Leader for the MSc Inequality and Society at the University of Sunderland.
He said: “Being offered the opportunity to speak at the Wolfenden Lecture is a huge privilege and honour.
“It gives an amazing opportunity to bring to light what is currently happening on a global level to sexual and gender minorities worldwide in terms of their human rights and development needs.”
Lauren Rowles has competed in women’s rowing in the last two Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, as well as the World Rowing Championships in 2019 and 2015.
She also works as an inclusion consultant and raises awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community and people with disabilities.
The annual lecture is named after a report compiled by The Wolfenden Committee, chaired by Lord Wolfenden in 1957.
Lord Wolfenden’s report became in important milestone in LGBTQ+ history when it recommended that homosexual behaviour between consenting adults should be decriminalised in the UK in 1957.
This year’s lecture takes place on Thursday, June 8, between 5.30pm and 6.45pm at the University of Reading’s Van Emden Lecture Theatre in the Edith Morely Building, Whiteknights Campus.
It is also being streamed online.
Registration to attend the event either online or in person is available at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2023/University-News/Wolfenden-Lecture-2023
