LGBTQ+Union is hosting a “Brown Bag Information Session.” The event will be held from 12-1 pm on Thursday in Fowlkes Auditorium on the second floor of the union.
The meeting will start with a moderated panel, an open discussion, and the panel will take questions from the audience members at the end. The goal of Thursday’s meeting is to help people understand what bisexuality is. Bailey McDaniel, president of the LGBTQ+Union and a Safe Zone Advisory Board worker, will be moderating the panel.
“A lot of people are misconstrued about the idea that bisexuality is someone who can’t decide, and actually it’s an identity that people have,” McDaniel said.
This discussion is to make everyone feel more comfortable in their own skin, more sensitive with their words and actions and to help dispel rumors, stigma and oppressions.
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to bring a lunch. The panel is in honor of Celebrate Bisexuality Day, which is on Sept. 23.
The panel will be made up of six people, including a few members of the Safe Zone Advisory Board, a group dedicated to educating people on how to deal with LGBTQ problems. Also on the panel will be Melanie Walsh, a counseling doctoral student from Starkville, Kayla Jones, a farm bureau student from Jackson, Kirsten von Hagn, a self-employed social media advertiser from Tupelo and Bri Rodolfich, an interfaith coordinator from Ocean Springs.
“Our goal is to bring awareness to LGBTQ issues, as well as minority issues,” McDaniel said.
The LGBTQ+Union is an activist student group on campus. The LGBTQ+Union holds a “Brown Bag Information Session” on the last Thursday of each month.
The club also hosts a meeting at 6:30 p.m. every other week in room 231 of the union. The next one will be Oct. 4. October is LGBTQ History month, and the club will be discussing historical members of the LGBTQ society. Walsh helped put the panel together.
“In my perspective, this type of awareness panel is very important for educating on a grassroots level” Walsh said. “We are working from the bottom up with the panel – hoping that we can educate students and others in our community who then may take that knowledge back to their friendships circles, families, places of work, etc..”
Abbey Rigdon, junior graphic design major from Little Rock, Mississippi, plans to attend the event.
“I think it’s really great that people are spreading the word about gays,” Rigdon said. “I think they should be free to be happy, without being oppressed. I think the panel will teach the community to be more open, and hopefully to treat everyone better in general.”
The meeting is open to students, faculty and the community. Russia Clark, a nutrition major and a sophomore from Vancleave, is also looking forward to the event.
“I think all forms of bias stem from ignorance,” Clark said. “Just because we ignore the facts, doesn’t mean they go away. We need to realize that the world is changing and we need to educate ourselves and the community with the facts, without bias. I think this panel will be an excellent way to do just that.”
