On Friday, April 9th, the SGA Executive Board forewent our usual executive meeting to attend the LGBTA “Straight Talks” workshop hosted at our campus. While very basic and general in terms of providing information regarding the organization, it became very clear that our awareness of the services provided by the LGBTA are severely under-resourced, making it worthy of blogging for our community.
For those of you who don’t know, LGBTA is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Student Resource Center. The basic premise of the LGBTA is to provide students with an accepting circle of peers, as well as promote awareness and encourage students not to hide their orientation in fear.
This was one concept specifically focused upon in the straight talks workshop. A gay student and a lesbian student, as well as a lesbian professor from University Park came to discuss their personal stories of coming to terms with their sexuality and how they chose to deal with the hardships involved. What I found most particularly unfortunate was the fear all three expressed at publicly releasing such information, and how worried they were that they would no longer be accepted, especially by their families. It seems that this is one of the driving forces behind the LGBTA: to help students dealing with such anxiety about being accepted for their true selves realize that there is a community willing to embrace and accept them exactly how they are. The two students who came to speak both emphasized just how much easier the coming-out process was once they came into contact with the LGBTA, and how much they loved being a part of it. I felt for this reason alone, it was a very important and informational workshop, and I hope that some students, if they are in this situation, take advantage of this open and accepting community.
If you would like to get involved with the LGBTA, you can access their website at www.sa.psu.edu/lgbt.
