Queer Week comes out in Chico

By: Renee Calder

A 20-person duck, duck, goose game took over the Free Speech Area on Oct. 8 while a singer dressed in a gold-studded jumpsuit and a mouse mask sang.

It was day three of Chico’s first Queer Week, a four-day event organized by the Women’s Center to celebrate and educate the campus about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning lifestyles.

“There’s something like using the word ‘queer’ that’s empowering,” said senior Jessica O’Donnell, student director of the Women’s Center.

A two-hour sex education discussion about having a gay, lesbian or straight sex life took place Oct. 7.

Sophomore Carol Callens was one of about 40 people who felt comfortable sitting in a circle and going around discussing their turn-ons and the ultimate sex experience.

“I liked how everyone felt like they could be open,” Callens said. “The atmosphere was great. No one was pressured to say or not say anything.”

Suzannah Morlos was hired to lead the sex education discussion.

“We need to open people up to the positive normities of queer lifestyles,” Morlos said. “People in universities are the next generation to lead, so they need to be more open.”

Sex toys were on sale and the band Peachcake attracted students’ attention Oct. 8, bringing both awareness and shock.

Some students did not like the name “Queer Week” because it is demeaning, said junior Sam Nassie.

“Also, when they flaunt it like that it’s kind of shoved in our face,” Nassie said.

Others, including junior Andrea Karnegas, appreciated students showing personal expression, Karnegas said while watching Peachcake in the Free Speech Area.

“It’s super gay,” she said. “It’s kind of cool, it’s upbeat, it’s entertaining.”

Sophomore R.J. Osborne and other students tried to stay neutral.

“I don’t have a problem with it, but I’m not going to say anything against it,” Osborne said. “It’s a culture shock.”

The event had its problems when many students who associate themselves as being queer were afraid for their safety on campus, said senior Aydin Kennedy, who is female-to-male transgender and would not sit at the transgender table out of fear.

Kennedy, 32, thinks coming out as gay is getting slightly easier, he said.

“You guys are the ‘Will & Grace’ generation, we didn’t have that,” Kennedy said of students in their early 20s.

The week’s ultimate goal was to make the gay community more visible, said senior Jackey Humphrey-Straub, program coordinator for the Women’s Center.

“This is one week they can come out, be proud, don’t have to hide or be silenced,” Humphrey-Straub said. “It gives them a voice.”

Senior Jaime Barajas considers the gay community his family, he said. His goal is to reclaim the negative word “queer.”

“I’m here, I’m queer, get used to it,” he said.

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