Free to all, September 18–19
Attorney Elizabeth Birch, who led the Human Rights Campaign from 1995 to 2004, was the keynote speaker at Lambda Network at Kodak's first Education Event with Management in 1995, and at their tenth Education Event in 2005 (shown here). Birch will return to Rochester to provide a keynote address on the LGBTQ Workplace Equality Movement Today at the Picturing Equality Symposium on September 18, 2026. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality Symposium, September 18–19 at the George Eastman Museum will bring together nationally recognized advocates and scholars to explore LGBTQ+ workplace rights, queer photography, and museum education. The symposium connects that broader history to Rochester through Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak, currently on view in Eastman Museum's community gallery, Gallery Obscura.
“This landmark symposium provides a forum for advocates, scholars, and museum practitioners to share their knowledge about LGBTQ history, photography, and creating inclusive cultures,” said Tamar Carroll, PhD, professor of history, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), curator of Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak, and organizer of the LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality Symposium. “We hope members of the Greater Rochester community will join us for some or all of this informative and inspiring event.”
"It is our pleasure to host the LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality Symposium at Eastman Museum,” said Emma Rathe, manager of programs and exhibition production and co-director of Gallery Obscura, George Eastman Museum. “Learning about this history from experts and activists gives us a deeper understanding of the progress that has been made, the work that still lies ahead, and the importance of continuing to create more equitable and inclusive workplaces for everyone."
The two-day program will feature keynote addresses, panel discussions, and conversations examining LGBTQ+ history, workplace equality, and museum inclusion.
Friday’s keynote program will feature addresses by Rochester native Donna Rose, a former Kodak and Xerox IT consultant and trans activist who worked to get trans healthcare covered by corporate health insurance plans, and attorney Elizabeth Birch, who gave keynote addresses at Lambda's first and tenth anniversary educational events, and served as executive director of the Human Rights Campaign from 1995 to 2004.
Among the speakers featured in Saturday’s program are University of Toronto historian Elspeth Brown, discussing queer photography and domesticity; RIT historian Shay Olmstead, on transgender workers’ legal activism; McGill University historian Alex Ketchum, on queer cyber activism in the 1990s; Colgate University historian Monica Mercado, on teaching queer history through museums; Design Minds founding partner Michael Lesperance, on LGBTQIA+ representation in heritage institutions; Binghamton University historian Daniel Royles, on preserving HIV/AIDS history through community archives; New York State Museum curator Ashley Hopkins-Benton, on uncovering queer history in museum collections; and Binghamton University anthropologist Ali Feser, presenting the performance lecture Flower Show.
Keynote presentations on Friday evening and Saturday morning are free and open to all. Attendance at Saturday panel sessions is limited and requires advance free registration. ASL interpretation provided. See the complete schedule of events and register here.
About Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak
The Lambda Network was Kodak’s LGBTQ employee resource group, formed at the company’s Rochester headquarters in the early 1990s, when many queer workers remained closeted. Its influence extended beyond Rochester, helping position Kodak as a national leader in LGBTQ workplace equality. Through first-person stories, educational events, and photography, Lambda members built understanding and advanced LGBTQ+ inclusion while connecting their work to Kodak’s brand. The exhibition was organized by the Remembering the Lambda Network at Kodak project, founded by Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts researchers in 2021 to document Lambda’s history and stories. On view in George Eastman Museum's community gallery, Gallery Obscura, through November 6.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books and archival materials related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. The museum is located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.
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