Purdue Global to celebrate Pride month with guest speaker

Robyn Ochs to provide two online presentations  

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Global will host speaker, activist and editor Robyn Ochs for two online presentations June 5 and 12 as part of this month’s Pride celebrations.

Robyn Ochs (Photo provided) Download image

Ochs is the editor of Bi Women Quarterly and two anthologies, “Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World” and “RECOGNIZE: The Voices of Bisexual Men.” Ochs’ work focuses on increasing awareness and understanding of complex identities and mobilizing people to be powerful allies to one another within and across identities and social movements, with a special interest in bi+ health, the experiences of bi+ people in the workplace, the global bi+ movement, and bi and LGBTQIA+ youth. Ochs was named by Teen Vogue as one of “9 Bisexual Women Who Are Making History.”

The sessions are as follows:

• June 5, 1-2:30 p.m. ET: “All the Letters: Understanding LGBTQIA+ Identities and Experiences in 2023.” How are people using and experiencing sexual orientation and gender in 2023? What do you need to know to be culturally competent in this area? “All the Letters” is accessible, welcoming, and provides helpful information to break down generational changes around society’s understanding of gender and sexuality. It is not a list of vocabulary. While it does help people expand their vocabulary, this program looks at the broader frame from which the new vocabulary is emerging. The presentation includes various opportunities for Q&A with Ochs. Registration is not required. A link can be accessed here. Passcode is 890815.
• June 12, 1-2:30 p.m. ET: “Beyond Binaries: Identity and Sexuality.” This event is open to the first 40 registrants. How do individuals assign labels to their complex experiences of identity? In this interactive program, Ochs explores the landscape of sexuality, conducts a thought-provoking anonymous survey of those present, and looks together with participants at the data. How do we identify, privately and publicly? Where do we locate ourselves on sexuality and gender continua? How old were we when we came to our identities? How asexual or asexual are we? How well do our friends or family members understand us? This program will change the way you think about labels and deconstruct binary systems of identity. Registration is required and open to the first 40 registrants.

Both sessions are sponsored by the Purdue Global Office of Organizational Culture and Inclusive Excellence (OCIE) in collaboration with the Pride@Purdue Global Employee Resource Group.

Writer/Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-496-6160, oatesw@purdue.edu; @mo_oates 

Source: Kristin Early