Dr. Kaila Story, the Audre Lorde Chair in Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality Studies, is one of 30 “innovators, change makers and rising stars” featured in NBC Out’s #Pride30 series. In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month, the series, part of NBC News, celebrates a story a day throughout June.
Story, who lives in Louisville with her wife Missy, was recognized by NBC Out for “opening hearts and minds in Kentucky.” She is the mastermind behind many courses at UofL that deal with gender, sexuality, race and the intersection of those identities, such as “Queer Perspectives in Literature and Film” and “Black Lesbian Lives.”
“In every course, I out myself at the beginning so my students never get away from intersectionality,” she told NBC Out.
For the series, Story said,” Being proud of oneself means not letting society define you, but for you to feel emboldened enough to define who you are on your own.”