Hello everyone and welcome to The Thrill‘s brand new feature ~*QUEER 101*~ Here, we will be exploring various aspects of being an LGBTQIA+ individual at Kenyon, as well as being a part of the larger queer community on campus. Don’t regularly attend Unity, Qdubs or QMS meetings? Don’t want to? That’s fine! We’re here to keep you updated on all sorts of things happening and being discussed on campus so you’ll always be in the loop. If you’re a queer person on campus and you’d like to share your perspective, We’d love to have you use this feature as your platform!

So to start off, today’s edition is “Know your resources,” which will be a basic introduction to the different kinds of queer organizations on campus and what they’re up to!

UNITY HOUSE 

What is it and what do they even do?

• Unity House is a safe space for queer individuals and allies alike, they hold lots of events, and recently had a “barba-queer” in which they made burgers for everyone on their lawn with a grill and only one person’s hair caught on fire.

Where is it?

• It’s NCA 3A, if you don’t want to actually look at house numbers, just follow the rainbow flags! (It’s like follow the yellow brick road, except gayer.)

Who runs this shindig?

• This year’s Unity managers are Rachel Gorlin ’17 (who previously wrote queer queries) and Nathan Durham ’17.

Whoa! That sounds cool! How do I get involved?

• Email glbtq@kenyon.edu to sign up for their dislist! OR if you wanna just keep updated, follow their instagram account Unity_House_Kenyon. They also have a tumblr in the works so stay tuned!

QDUBs (Queer Women’s Collective)

What even?

• Glad you asked! Qdubs is a confidential space for anyone who identifies as a woman or was born as a woman and identifies with their motto: “Not cis, not straight, not sure”. They hold weekly meetings and discuss a variety of topics. This year, they’ll be hosting a Weaver Wednesday!

Wait what does confidential mean?

• It means that the meeting times and dislist are not made public, so if you fall under “questioning” you won’t be outed in any way.

So who’s in charge of this one?

• The leaders are elected every year, and this year they are Katy Santa Maria ’16 and Sam Roschewsk ’18 (who, if you’re a really good sleuth, you will have figured out is me.)

Tell me more!!

• Wow you’re so enthusiastic! You can email queerwomen@kenyon.edu to get on their dislist and find out the meeting times, or alternatively, follow their tumblr. They love to receive asks and submissions!

QMS (Queer Men’s Society)

What do those letters mean?

• QMS is the Queer Men’s Society, which is the male-identifying equivalent to Qdubs! Similarly, they are confidential and also hold weekly meetings.

Who’s is the fearless leader?

• Peter Wear ’16 is the fearless leader of this cool organization.

Sweet! How do I sign up for the dislist?

• Email Peter at wearp@kenyon.edu and he’ll tell you the time and location of the meetings.

ATHLETES FOR EQUALITY

Does the name say it all?

• Well yes, this is a group of athletes who are indeed in favor of equality. They hold weekly meetings to discuss various topics involving sexuality in the world of sports and beyond. All are welcome regardless of sexuality or athletic ability (which is good because I’m very uncoordinated and have terrible endurance)

When can I go to this thing?

• Meetings are held at 8:30 in Taft C300 usually on a Tuesday or Thursday, look out for Student info emails with the details–their last meeting had OREOS.

Who runs this thing?

• Chelsie Hayes ’18 and Sarah Speroff ’18 are the co-presidents this year!

How do I get involved?

Email athletesforequality@kenyon.edu to be on their dislist, or attend a meeting when you can, all are welcome!

Is there something you want to see discussed in the next edition of Queer 101? Got any burning questions or things you wanna see talked about? Wanna write your own narrative? Comment below or email us a thekenyonthrill@gmail.com!