The Observer, September 28, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 5
Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Week: Campus groups unite to promote gender identity awareness
Gender identity. This phrase just terrifies some people. Some people are unsure how to respond when someone brings up a gender identity matter, and some don't even believe that it is a valid issue. What exactly is the best way to go about discussing this touchy subject? Is Case even ready to become a more accepting community, welcoming both students and faculty alike, regardless of gender identification?
These are the questions that the events of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Week (SDR2) plan to answer. Taking place from Septe. 26 to Sept. 28, and put on by multiple groups on campus, including University Counseling Services, Undergraduate Student Government, University Program Board, and the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women, SDR2 is aimed at increasing awareness of transgendered individuals here on Case's campus.
At Spot Night on Wednesday, SDR2 had a booth, complete with free promotional materials, DVDs, and a few $15 iTunes giftcards. Reaching out at one of Case's most popular weekly social gatherings proved to be a very appropriate venue to make themselves heard. Students could investigate the booth, grab some free stuff, and then return their attention to MGMT, the band headlining Wednesday night's concert.
Thursday night, the film Transamerica, starring Felicity Huffman, and dealing with the story of a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, was shown in Strosacker Auditorium in conjunction with the Film Society. An Oscar-nominated film, Transamerica brought gender identity issues to the forefront of everyone's mind when it was released in 2005, and it will hopefully do the same thing here on campus.
The week's events culminate today with Trans U: An Introduction to Transgender Issues on Campus, which is an open forum featuring guest speaker Samuel Lurie, founder of the national organization Transgender Training and Advocacy. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. in the Thwing 1914 lounge, SDR2 is also giving out free box lunches to the first 125 people attending. Lurie, a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, is dedicated to working with advocates and allies of transgender people in higher education, housing, and employment. The forum promises to be informative and enlightening, just like the rest of SDR2's awareness-raising program.
From answering hard-hitting questions to promoting tolerance and awareness, Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Week has become a campus tradition, offering important and powerful information to Case students.
