
A group of 11 students and two faculty advisers from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center went to a conference at UC Riverside, themed “Out of the Rainbow and Into the Streets” on Feb. 16-18.
The purpose of the conference was to discuss how the rainbow has become a symbol of homogeneity of the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and ally) community but how not all members of the community can associate themselves with the symbol, according to the Queer Conference Committee co-chairwomen Raquel Bernaldo, Caitlin Eubanks, Lenie Lim. The conference discussed breaking stereotypes and making safe places for people to be heard.
Sylvia Rodemeyer, a journalism and sociology major, was one of the students who attended the conference. Rodemeyer said that students were able to choose different sessions to go to on Saturday and Sunday. She attended “Rainbow Freedom Writers,” “Coming Out Monologues,” “Cumming in Between the Binary: Sluts Reclaiming Bisexual Territories,” and “Polyamorous Relationships Are So GAY.”
According to Rodemeyer, the “Coming Out Monologues” was a UC Riverside program that gathered different coming out stories to eventually put into a performance for the Day of Silence.
The students from Cal State Long Beach did not stay together the entire time, and everyone got to choose the sessions they wanted to go to.
“I think everybody went to things they weren’t familiar with,” Rodemeyer said.
Ben Brunharnkul, who also attended the conference, said he “felt oppressed” at the “Liberating Our Bodies” session. He also said it was about discrimination of skin color and culture, but that there was a good goal there to help people change themselves so they don’t fall under stereotypes.
Jeff Spafford, a senior journalism major, was another conference participant. Both Spafford and Brunharnkul attended “‘Hey You Fags, Dykes, and Freaks!”- The Ugly Reality of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes.”
“It was really helpful,” Spafford said. He explained how name-calling is not a hate crime, but a hate incident. Spafford also said that the session encouraged people to report hate incidents to local authorities and that those actions could hopefully help put a stop to them. Spafford said the session also offered health and safety tips.
The conference wasn’t all serious, however. Rodemeyer said Saturday night was entertaining and featured spoken word artists and drag kings.