Saturday, Feb. 13, a panel event took place over Zoom discussing the subject of what type of attractions exist beyond the first five letters of the LGBTQ+ acronym. However, this discussion was not led by professors or professionals but students.
The presentation aimed to make more people both in and out of the LGBTQ+ community more educated regarding different types of sexual and romantic attraction. The panelists were Zoe Enterline, Judas Foster and Mackenzie Pollachek, all from the class of 2024.
The students took turns presenting slides with definitions of different identities in the LGBTQ+ community as well as sharing their personal identities and coming out stories. They each shared the frustrations of what it really is like to constantly come out, especially due to the fact that people are less aware of these identities. After the presentation, the panel took questions from the Zoom viewers. Identities like asexual, graysexual and pansexual were talked about as well as romantic attractions.
Enterline first had the idea after completing safe zone training at Elizabethtown College, which is a program that teaches students more about diversity within the LGBTQ+ community. It focuses on the different identities within the community and how to help someone who comes out to you or needs help to do so. She wondered how more people could be informed on the subject and brought up the idea to Director of Title IX/Compliance Programs and Intercultural Affairs at the College Nichole Gonzalez. Around the same time, Pollachek also mentioned the idea and the panel was formed.
Gonzalez discussed just how important it was to have this event. “A lot of people know when you deconstruct that acronym the L-G-B-T and Q, most people have an understanding of that now. We need to keep digging deeper and making sure we are making people aware that identity is much more than just that,” she said.
Gonzalez also mentioned future events and projects that are coming up like safe zone training 2.0, where topics from safe zone training as well as new ideas will be talked about more in depth to students. If you are interested in learning more about safe zone training, future events or safe zone training 2.0, email Gonzalez at gonzaleznichole@etown.edu.
The event was not only to educate others, but to help any peers understand they are not alone in feeling confused about identity or underrepresented.
Foster gave advice to anyone who might be questioning their identity. “Take your time. It’s a very personal journey figuring out who you are. No one should rush you through the process of discovering what you like, who you are, what labels or lack of you prefer,” Foster said.
