Eager to learn more about LGBTQ History Month?
October is LGBTQ+ History Month, and the HKS community is marking the occasion with events celebrating inclusion and advocacy. The Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection and Library & Research Services met with students in the Sunshine Lobby this week, inviting them to pick up pride-themed stickers, bookmarks, and wristbands, grab a snack, and enter a raffle to win LGBTQ+-themed books.
A partner in this month’s celebration is the LGBTQ Caucus, an HKS student organization committed to fostering safe spaces, advancing equality, and integrating LGBTQ+ perspectives into public policy discussions. We spoke with LGBTQ Caucus Chair Kris Li MPP 2026 to learn more about the caucus’ mission and how community can shape inclusive leadership. In this Q&A, Li reflects on her personal journey and how the caucus is working to strengthen community and advance equality.
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What inspired you to get involved with the LGBTQ+ Caucus, and why did you take on a leadership role?
It’s one of the many commitments I’ve made throughout my life. I was a leading figure of the LGBTQ+ community as an undergrad [at Beijing Foreign Studies University], and volunteered at the Beijing LGBT Center before it was shut down. I also learned from local gender minority communities while studying in Costa Rica and working in Ecuador. When public LGBTQ+ events weren’t permitted, I organized Costa Rican transgender film screenings in my apartment in Beijing.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and seen—that is why I’m committed to leading our caucus in a collaborative environment. As an international student, I want to bring global stories and experiences to the LGBTQ+ community and allies at HKS.
At HKS, I’m also the Kennedy School Student Government’s VP of Gender Equity, Empowerment, and Leadership, the finance chair of the Human Rights Professional Interest Council (PIC), and I work in the Nonviolent Action Lab at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
I believe in intersectionality: LGBTQ+ rights can’t be discussed without bringing democracy building, women’s rights, and other human rights topics into the conversation. Our LGBTQ+ Caucus is open to cooperate with any HKS organizations.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe and seen—that is why I’m committed to leading our caucus in a collaborative environment. As an international student, I wish to bring global stories and experiences to the LGBTQ+ community and allies at HKS.”
Kris Li MPP 2026
Share a bit about your own journey and how it connects to the LGBTQ+ Caucus’ mission.
LGBTQ+ rights were seldom directly involved in my professional journey. I studied international relations and political science during my undergraduate studies in Beijing, with a focus on Latin American politics, and worked for labor rights- and gender equity-related nongovernmental organizations. I was working in Ecuador, on the Galapagos Islands, when I received my HKS admissions letter. Now that I’m here, I’m focusing on the intersection of technology and human rights—for my summer internship, I was in Puerto Rico working on girls’ protection as a Women and Public Policy Program research fellow.
The mission of the LGBTQ+ Caucus—safe space and equal rights for everyone—relates to all of those topics in diverse ways. Our caucus works with politicians and practitioners from different policy areas since every topic has perspective on the rights and development of gender minorities.
The LGBTQ+ Caucus emphasizes building community. How do you see community spaces contributing to shaping future policymakers’ understanding of LGBTQ+ issues?
Community space is crucial, but many times underestimated. Before coming to HKS, I worked with many grassroots communities—from people who barely earn $5 a day due to social exclusion, to people who die on their knees because of pneumoconiosis. These circumstances are where future policymakers can study barriers in the community, gain support, and, most importantly, learn empathy.
I hope our caucus is a platform for students from different backgrounds to recognize each other’s journeys, understand the interconnections among our diverse policy areas, and believe LGBTQ+ rights are at the frontline of everyone’s basic rights. It’s equally important for our space to allow people to simply relax and enjoy themselves—our wellbeing and friendships are fundamental to how we shape together an inclusive future for the world.
“I hope our caucus is a platform for students from different backgrounds to recognize each other’s journeys, understand the interconnections among our diverse policy areas, and believe LGBTQ+ rights are at the frontline of everyone’s basic rights.”
Kris Li MPP 2026
Why is it important for LGBTQ+ issues to be integrated into policy discussions at institutions like HKS?
A number of countries are strengthening human rights protections for LGBT people. In 2024, the United Nations Secretariat adopted a strategy to protect the LGBTIQ+ community from violence and discrimination. But discrimination and hate-motivated violence against LGBTQI+ people remain widespread and brutal in many parts of the world.
HKS is the world’s leading public policy school and advocates for people to live in safer and freer societies. We cannot ignore any group of people when we practice public policy design and leadership. Empathy, openness, and intersectionality are the foundation for solving public problems.
Banner image by Lydia Rosenberg; additional photos courtesy of Kris Li.
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