“I teach what I am. I am what I teach.”
With these words, women’s studies doctoral student Mel Michelle Lewis summed up her identity as a teacher, a black woman, a lesbian and a feminist.
More than 60 students packed the Language House Multi-Purpose Room in St. Mary’s Hall to hear Lewis and two other doctoral students share their research on of sexuality, race, ethnicity and identity in a colloquium event organized by the Consortium of Race, Ethnicity and Gender, titled “Intersectional Approaches to Sexuality: Image Identity and Structure.”
The panel discussion, moderated by Christina Handhart, an American studies and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies professor, combined academic and personal presentations that emphasized a multi-dimensional approach to studying sexuality and personal identity.
Lewis, who studies black queer theory and feminist thought, began by explaining how her research intersects with her experiences in the classroom, particularly in her African American and women’s studies courses.
After identifying herself as a black lesbian, Lewis said students often open up about their own self-conceptions, whether they are based on race or sexuality.
“It takes away the taboo,” she said. “Students often come out or tell personal stories in class. That’s one of the most valuable things. By legitimizing others’ identities, they legitimize my own.”
Emily Mann, a sociology doctoral student, discussed her research on government policy toward teenage sexuality. She said that while mainstream liberals and conservatives disagree on issues such as contraception and abstinence-only education, government policy from both sides routinely ignores non-heterosexuals, she said, adding that heterosexual marriage is promoted as “the idealization of American identity.”
Even when the LGBT community is addressed in teenage sexuality programs, STD prevention is almost exclusively the focus, she said. Mann argued for a broader government approach to teenage sexuality that does not assume that all teenagers are heterosexual.
Panelist Christopher Perez of the American studies department presented a detailed and personal description of his interviews with José, a gay Venezuelan AIDS activist. José received asylum in the United States after he was abducted and tortured in his home country.
Perez compared José’s experiences in asylum court to interviews he conducted with Perez in the activist’s bed. He discussed how in the comfortable setting of his bed, José could discuss his sexuality, a key component of his identity. Perez said that having a space to express one’s sexuality is of primary importance for many members of the LGBT community.
“Asylum is not all about trauma,” Perez quoted José as saying. “It’s about helping other people find comfort in that process.”
Students said the event was engaging and thought-provoking.
Ashley Gollmann, a master’s student who studies queer athletes of color, said she was most interested in Perez’s presentation.
“I was very interested in Christopher’s work,” she said. “To think of the bed as a space of comfort and how he’s relating that to the courtroom as a space of alienation [is interesting.]”
Education doctoral student Jay Garvey said the panel showed the evolution of sexuality studies.
“It’s just interesting to look at where we have gone from modernism to postmodernism to critical queer, and I’m interested to see where we will go next,” he said.
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