By Karina Sharma
For The Diamondback
Arianna Rivera, a program coordinator from the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said one challenge members of the LGBTQ community might face when trying to seek help after experiencing sexual violence is having to answer more detailed questions than people who are heterosexual — which can make the situation worse.
“It’s not your job as a survivor to explain to people questions that they may still be having about your identity,” Rivera said, as scattered snaps rang across the room. “You want to be able to go there not to educate them, but to get the services you want.”
Rivera led an intimate discussion in front of about 20 people to discuss sexual violence and the LGBTQ community in Stamp Student Union Wednesday afternoon. The Office of Civil Rights & Sexual Misconduct presented its inaugural LGBTQ event in honor of Pride Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, said Kevin Webb, the office’s training manager.
“We wanted to raise awareness for people who might not be as familiar with the topic or terminology and help them get a deeper understanding,” Webb said. “Even though sexual assault and harassment spans across all communities, they manifest themselves in unique ways.”
The conversation was divided into two parts: defining the various terms related to the LGBTQ community, and exploring the issues that survivors of sexual violence face.
Rivera explained the concept of the Gender Unicorn — a graphic that explains the four aspects of gender — which are gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation and sex assigned at birth. A lot of activism from youth in the community has changed the perception of some terminology and has “revolutionized” the idea of gender, she said.
“Growing up, this language wasn’t really part of my household,” said Lamiya Ahmed, a senior public health science major. “I guess I consciously decided I was heterosexual when I came to college because that’s when I became exposed to [the language].”
Ahmed isn’t the only person with this experience, Rivera said. Many students aren’t familiar with different terminology under the Gender Unicorn because of their culture. There’s a possibility people think they’re heterosexual their entire lives, and later realize that’s not the case, she said.
Violence in the LGBTQ community is high, especially among individuals who identify as transgender or bisexual, and sexual assault is something that often goes underreported, Rivera said, adding that one in five victims seek help from service providers.
LGBTQ community members who have experienced sexual violence might then question their sexuality after an assault, intensifying shameful feelings and professionals not taking their experiences seriously, Rivera said. They also tend to experience a lack of services sympathetic to the unique pressures of the LGBTQ community, Rivera said.
The Office of Civil Rights & Sexual Misconduct is trying to create a “safe and respectful campus” that is inclusive of all communities, and plans to do so by hosting more events like this in the future, Webb said.
Although junior Nasreen Baten-Tschan said she thought the event provided a strong overview of the issue, this kind of introductory foundation should be happening on a campuswide level — especially when discussing safety.
“I don’t even know if there is an explicit, campus conversation about this,” the economics major said. “People don’t understand the gravity — the effect — issues can have on the larger community, and that’s a problem.”
The campus should be more involved in LGBTQ education and resources, Baten-Tschan added.
“The campus isn’t very proactive when it comes to [LGBTQ] issues. It reacts if necessary, but they don’t prioritize … or understand queer students have needs that are different than the needs of other students,” Baten-Tschan said.
