As the Associated Students of Madison kicked off Diversity Week Monday with a day devoted to sexuality, students discussed ways to improve cultural awareness of sexual identity issues on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Mikaela Walin, a member of the sex education organization Sex Out Loud, said she believes society as a whole is often uncomfortable with sexualities that differ from traditional gender roles.
“Unfortunately we still live in a culture where there is a lot of silence around identities that might not meet that socially constructed norm,” Walin said. “People still aren’t able to be completely open about their identity in all facets of life.”
However, Walin said the UW-Madison campus has made positive strides toward acceptance of different sexualities through student organizations that promote conversations about sexuality.
Roxanne Meyer, co-president of the Ten Percent Society, a social organization for students of diverse sexual orientations, said the university has also done well in its inclusion of sexual orientation in nondiscrimination policies.
Both Walin and Meyer said they believe prejudices surrounding sexuality can be counteracted through raising awareness.
“I think the more people know, the less likely they are to … discriminate,” Walin said.
Walin said she would like to see incoming freshmen taught about sexuality at Student Orientation, Advising and Registration sessions “to express this idea of sex positivity … that we are a campus of over 40,000 individuals, so there are over 40,000 sexualities and sexual orientations.”
Students could also be exposed to sexuality topics by revamping the mandatory ethnic studies requirement to include sexuality topics, Meyer said. ASM Diversity Chair Mia Akers said the committee heard similar desires from students in a February roundtable event about ethnic studies.
Meyer said she would also like to see UW-Madison pay greater attention to the needs of members of the trans* community, which includes anyone who identifies with a gender different from the one they were born with, by requiring gender-neutral bathrooms in new buildings.
