In many ways, sophomore Hanna Persson is like any other student at the University of Oregon. She trudges through the same rainy streets on her way to the same classes that other students take. At the end of the day, she heads back to an off-campus apartment not unlike the ones many students live in. In that sense, she is the definition of ordinary.
But in other important ways, Persson is profoundly different: She is an ethnic minority as well as a self-described “butch.” Her differences can make for a difficult time in the campus community.
“I have experienced prejudice (on campus), and I still do from day to day,” Persson said. “Anything from strange looks to being ignored, and having friends who have been assaulted in one form or another.”
There are a few official avenues of support for Persson and other members of the LGBT community. One such resource, the University’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Educational and Support Services, is sponsoring the annual InterSEXtions conference, which started on Wednesday and ends on Friday. The conference is also sponsored by the English department; the UO Cultural Forum; the UO Humanities Center; the Ethnic Studies department and Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
According to Director of LGBT Educational and Support Services Chicora Martin, the conference theme is “The Politics of a Multicultural Movement,” and it’s an opportunity to bring together academics to discuss LGBT issues.
Martin said Carmen Vasquez, an activist and public policy director for the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender Community Center, will be the featured speaker. Vasquez, who spoke at the conference 10 years ago, will lecture on LGBT perspectives on democracy on Friday at 7 p.m. in Willamette 110.
Martin said she hopes to bring together a diverse audience for this year’s conference.
“We get a lot of peers and colleagues,” said Martin. She said that the conference is more productive if perspectives from outside the LGBT community are included.
Persson agreed.
“I think it is a very positive move to focus on multi-identity oppressions because then maybe people can start thinking about the world in a broader sense instead of just focusing on just one system of oppression at a time,” she said.
Still, Persson said the dearth of LGBT ethnic minorities frustrates her. She said it is difficult to have a stake in two communities that often don’t see eye to eye.
“Entering and working with communities of color was really intimidating at first, partly because I’m butch, but also because there are incredibly few people of color that are ‘out’ to me,” she said. “My identity often feels divided because now I have friends on campus that are queer and friends on campus who are people of color, and they are very different crowds that understand different parts of my experience.”
Other students offered different reasons for attending the conference. Senior Michael Eaves, who is majoring in Women and Gender Studies, said he is interested in the “Fellow Families: Gay Male Intimacy and Kinship in a Global Metropolis” session, which will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday in the Knight Library Browsing Room
“American masculinity in general and queer men’s culture in specific is something I’m pursuing academically,” Eaves said.
For more information on conference locations and sessions, please go to the office of LGBT services Web site http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~program/.