Contact Us
Phone: 859-218-4816
Email: lgbtq@uky.edu
Visit: Dinkle-Mas Suite for LGBTQ* Resources, Bill Gatton Student Center (A-250)
Our Team
Lance Poston, Ph.D., Executive Director
Pronouns: He, Him, His Email: lance.poston@uky.edu
As Executive Director for Inclusive Health and Campus Partnerships, Dr. Poston leads inclusion and belonging focused initiatives across the University that support students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors. His daily work is informed by his training as an interdisciplinary scholar of US race, sexuality, and gender. In addition to managing the Office of LGBTQ* Resources, Dr. Poston directs the University's Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives as well as UK’s Inclusive Health Partnerships. He also supports strategic community outreach efforts for the Vice President for Institutional Diversity, including collaborations with public relations and the alumni association, and holds a faculty appointment in the UK department of gender and women’s studies.
Rayne Parker, Assistant Director
Pronouns: They, Them, Their Email: rayne.parker@uky.edu
As the Assistant Director, Rayne facilitates event and educational programming, supports LGBTQ* student groups and leaders on campus, and evaluate needs of the University to further the office’s impact. Rayne has a degree in Gender Studies from Transylvania University and brings a variety of experiences as an educator and advocate to their work at UK. In their free time they enjoy writing spoken word poetry and fiction.
Tammy Gross, Administrative Support Associate
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers Email: tammy.gross@uky.edu
Tammy is an integral part of both LGBTQ* Resources and the Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives. She supports the Director and both staff teams as an office manager. Tammy has been a UK employee for over twelve years and earned her bachelors degree in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. She is located in the CGPDI Gillis Building Suite each afternoon and in the LGBTQ* Resources Dinkle-Mas Suite (Gatton Student Center) each morning.
Mel Lesch, MA, MEd, Graduate Coordinator
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers Email: melesc2@uky.edu
As the LGBTQ* Resources Graduate Assistant, Mel coordinates the Audre Lorde Living Learning Program and supports other inclusive housing and programming initiatives in the office. Mel holds both a graduate and undergraduate degree from UK and is a PhD student in UK Gender and Women's Studies. Her background is in Student Affairs and Residence Life and she enjoys working with students as a key part of the office team.
Katie Kirk, Education Intern
Pronouns: They, them, their
As an intern, Katie primarily focuses on sexual education as it applies tot he LGBTQ* community. Katie is a senior English major with minors in Theatre and Psychology; they're also the president of UKShakes, a student-run theatre group. When not involved with those things, they enjoy spending time with friends and family, playing Pokémon Go, and petting cats.
Kayla Woodson, Education Intern
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Kayla is a sophomore studying Political Science and minoring in Journalism. Her office project called "The Queer Experience in Color" focuses on breaking barriers, building bridges and understanding. She serves as Vice President for Shades of Pride and as a Senator-at-Large in Student Government Association. She enjoys movies and writing.
Lauren Miller, Education Intern
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
As an intern, Lauren is working on a project creating a workbook with local GSAs and connecting mental Health with the LGBTQ* community. Lauren is pursuing a major Psychology and a minor in neuroscience. Lauren is a peer mentor at the Student Support Services on campus along with the secretary of NAMICats and Public Relations of GSA. laren loves to help people, hike, do face masks, and read up on astronomy during her free time.
Keaija Turner, Outreach Intern
Pronouns: she, her, hers
As an intern, Keaija handles administrative tasks in the office. Keaija is a junior majoring in Gender and Women's Studies and minoring in Sociology. Her interests include writing, music and traveling.
Nevaeh Fischer, Outreach Intern
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Nevaeh is a first-year student majoring in Psychology. As an administrative interns, she focuses on clerical duties for the office. She has started to get involved in campus with organizations such as the Black Student Union, Black is Gold University and Collegiate Curls of UK. She is interested in anything pre-medical.
Kristen Mark, PhD, MPH, Faculty Fellow, LGBTQ* Faculty and Staff Affinity Group Co-Chair
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers Email: kristen.mark@uky.edu
Dr. Mark is an associate professor in UK's College of Education and is the inaugural Faculty Fellow in LGBTQ* Resources. In this capacity, she serves as a key advisor for office projects involving curriculum development and faculty engagement. Dr. Mark is also the Director of the Sexual Health Promotion Lab and the faculty lead for the office's summer education abroad collaboration focused on comparisons of sexuality, gender, and sexual health in Kentucky and the Netherlands. She earned her PhD from Indiana University where she specialized in sexual desire, sexual well-being, and sexual health promotion at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion and the Kinsey Institute. More can be learned about her research at www.kristenmark.com.
Ellen D.B. Riggle, PhD, LGBTQ* Faculty and Staff Affinity Group Co-Chair
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers Email: ellen.riggle@uky.edu
Dr. Riggle is Chair and Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies, and Professor in Political Science at the University of Kentucky. She is co-author of A Positive View of LGBTQ: Embracing Identity and Cultivating Well-Being (winner of the 2012 Distinguished Book Award from Division 44 of the American Psychological Association), and Happy Together: Thriving as a Same-sex Couple in Your Family, Workplace, and Community (published in 2015 by the American Psychological Association LifeTools series), as well as over 75 scholarly articles. Dr. Riggle is the recipient of the 2017 William B. Sturgill Award for "outstanding contributions to graduate education" from the Graduate School of the University of Kentucky. Dr. Riggle’s research interests include positive LGBTQ* identities, the effects of minority stress on the well-being of LGBTQ individuals and same-sex couples, and the impact of law, legal debates, and policy issues on LGBTQ individuals and same-sex couples. For more information about Dr. Riggle's research, visit www.PrismResearch.org.
Student Groups
As the Office of LGBTQ* Resources grows, one of our main goals is on promoting student leadership and collaboration through advising and supporting all student groups that have a core focus on gender and/or sexuality. We hope this section will give you a general idea of the LGBTQ* focused student organizations at the University of Kentucky.