The Queer Resource Center (QRC) held its annual discussion about bisexuality in today’s society on Sept. 24 to celebrate Bisexual Visibility Day.
A group that included QRC staff members, mentors in the Queer, Questioning, and Allied Mentor Program (QQAMP), and other 7C students gathered to talk about stereotypes associated with bisexuality and its misrepresentation in society, often referring to their personal experiences.
“Monday was International Bi-Visibility day, and it’s basically a day to acknowledge bisexual people and community,” QRC Program Coordinator Ebony Williams said. “There’s a lot of invisibility that is experienced by the bi/monosexual community. [Our discussion] is a space where we hope the community feels it’s safe [to] talk about their experiences and be in a community that gets where they’re coming from.”
Williams led a discussion in which students shared their experiences of feeling both invisible and visible and ways to deal with the feelings of invisibility as a bi- or monosexual person at the 7Cs.
“I came to the discussion today because it’s relevant to my life and my identity,” QQAMP mentor Cat Eskilson PZ ’14 said. “[We need] to make sure there is open dialogue and that the topic isn’t one to be shied away from.”
Although it was a small group, Williams said she believed that the discussion was successful.
“Success is not so much based on the number of people who come to an event,” Williams said. “If one person comes and if they actually can speak openly and/or feel who they are is validated and visible, then that’s successful. And I think it was a success.”
QRC staff members have many projects planned for the academic year. They are working with Pomona College’s Draper Center for Community Partnerships to create a program for local high schools that would give students the opportunity to learn to affirm their identity and develop leadership skills, Williams said. The QRC has also planned several Ally training sessions, as well as programs to educate students about intersectionality.
“The QRC’s goal and guide this year is social justice work through an intersectional queer lens in efforts to build community,” Williams said.
“Intersectionality looks at the ways in which race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, class, to name a few, exist together to create a lived experience,” Williams later wrote in an e-mail to TSL. “It is rooted in the belief that one identity cannot live alone but lives in concert with the others.”
The QRC plans to hold joint film screenings with other resource centers as part of its approach to the topic of intersectionality, said Denys Reyes CM ’16, a head QQAMP mentor.
Other events include talks from guest speakers and workshops, as well as the annual Middle School Dance. Williams encouraged all 7C students to attend QRC programs.
“The big part is that this is a place for everybody,” Williams said. “We want to create a space for people where they can speak openly and where their experiences are validated and welcome. There’s a place for everyone here, so stop by.”
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