Community leaders are organizing an independent Lavender Graduation ceremony for students after the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University canceled their annual LGBTQ+ commencement events.

The ceremony will be held at PLAY Louisville May 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. and is open to all LGBTQ+ graduates from all Louisville colleges and universities.

JP Davis, a UofL alumni and one of the event’s organizers, said it’s “so dumb” that the public has to organize an event that the city’s universities should be hosting.

“These kids four years ago were recruited to a university when it promoted diversity and community,” he said. “I don’t think people understand that the university experience is very important to the future of people who grew up in places they weren’t accepted.”

Both universities are following Kentucky House Bill 4, which bans DEI programming at public colleges and universities that is “designed or implemented to promote or provide differential treatment or benefits to individuals on the basis of religion, race, sex, color or national origin.” However, the bill does not mention LGBTQ-specific programming. 

This bill also aligns with the Trump Administration’s push to eliminate DEI in schools.

Davis said he believes that UofL staff is scared of retaliation from the university so no one from the UofL LGBTQ+ center is involved in organizing the ceremony.

“The federal government is putting so much pressure on universities because of DEI and LGBTQ programming and everybody is kind of freaking out and being afraid that they’re going to get sued by the government,” he said.

Organizers will also collect donations to cover event costs and support initiatives benefiting LGBTQ+ college students in Louisville through a nonprofit organization fiscal sponsor, though one has not yet been selected. Over $2K has been raised and Davis said hundreds of people have reached out to support the event in whatever way is needed.

Some of the hundreds of people stepping up also work in higher education. A researcher and educator that prefers to remain anonymous told Queer Kentucky that Louisville serves as a beacon of hope for LGBTQ+ people in the region.

“Graduating from college is a huge achievement that takes years of hard work,” they said. “Our LGBTQ+ students are achieving this milestone in a world that tells them they are ‘less than.’ They are valued and loved by our community and absolutely, unequivocally deserve to be celebrated.”

The event does come with challenges. The number of attendees is unknown, and supplies are limited. Organizers opted not to require pre-registration to ease the planning burden and allow last-minute graduates the opportunity to participate.

“It’s hard to plan an event when we have no idea who is coming,” Davis said, “but typically it’s a smaller event ranging from 10 and 30 students.” Organizers are planning for 50 students with graduates to receive small gifts in addition to their cords

“It’s not their “own” graduation and that’s the thing people keep getting wrong,” he said of Lavender Graduation critics. “There is one big graduation where everyone participates, but there are tons of smaller ceremonies and gatherings conducted by different schools within the university where people create their own sense of community.”

Graduates who were planning to receive rainbow graduation cords at the original ceremony on April 21 will still be able to pick them up at the Cultural and Equity Center until May 9, but the new public event will also have cords available. 

Email [email protected] if you’d like to donate or support the event.