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Intersectionality Reflection

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It is not uncommon to have both privileged and oppressed social identities. As an able-bodied heterosexual black female, I experience this phenomenon which is better known as intersectionality. I am made aware of some of the hardships that people with disabilities face because I am close to someone who is bound to a wheelchair. Since I also enjoy the privileges of being heterosexual and I wanted a completely different experience, I decided to focus my plunge on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning and others (LGBTQ+) community. In doing so, the three events I attended were the Amateur Drag Show hosted by the Pride Student Union, Understanding Intersectionality co-hosted by the Black Student Union and the Pride Student Union, …show more content…

Understanding Intersectionality: A Conversation between BSU and Pride discussed topics such as racism in LGBTQ+ space, exclusion within people of color (POC) spaces, gender expressions/roles, and issues within the community. Before the discussion started, I was interested in hearing more about first-hand experiences of what it is like to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community and African American. At the same time I must admit that I was more interested in going back to my dorm because it was Thursday night so that meant my Thank God It’s Thursday shows (Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder) were coming on with new episodes. However, once the conversation started television became a distant thought. I always figured it had to be difficult to be both black and non-heterosexual because that meant double strikes by your name from society; triple strikes if you are female. Turns out I was right. The first thing I noticed was the room looked segregated, with black student union members on one side and the LGBTQ+ members on the other. I doubt that it was planned that way, maybe people just wanted to sit with their friends but, I just thought it would be interesting to note. As an ice-breaker, we played identity bingo. The objective of the game was to find different people who knew facts like ‘I know what Ball Culture is’ and ‘I know where the BSU House is located’. I thought this was a great way to have some one-on-one interactions and give the atmosphere a friendly vibe. With everyone feeling engaged, the conversation began. I never realized the importance of pronouns until it was brought up. For example, if someone was biologically male, I would call them ‘sir’, ‘him’ ‘he’, etc. I never thought that someone may not appreciate me calling them that because the truth is not everybody is cisgender. Another great topic discussed was hyper

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