LMU teaches profs the ‘Alphabet Soup of Sexual Orientation’

Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is slated to host an event designed to help professors decipher “the Alphabet Soup of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities.”

According to an event flyer on the university’s website, the September 14 seminar will closely examine the ever-expanding LGBTQ community, joking that the group’s acronym is getting longer by the day.

“LGBT. LGBTQ. LGBTQQIA. QUILTBAGS. Every day, it seems that there are more and more letters,” the flyer reads. “What are some of the new labels? How are people using and experiencing sexual orientation and gender in 2017? And what do you need to know to be culturally competent in this area?”

[RELATED: University awards grants for ‘LGBTQ*-focused’ research] 

The program will be led by Robyn Ochs, a self-described “educator, campus speaker, grassroots activist, and editor of the Bi Women Quarterly.”

The activist speaker has also been vocal in her opposition to President Trump, slamming the commander-in-chief on Twitter while sharing an image of a large, inflatable Trump caricature that was flown by protesters in London.

“How did the folks in London get him to pose for this photo?” she tweeted. “‘Donald Trump is a big, angry baby with a fragile ego & tiny hands. We want to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him & laughing at him.’”

[RELATED: University to spend $28k on renovations for new LGBTQ Center] 

The brochure for the event continues to advertise the workshop by referencing new labels in the LGBTQ community, asking attendees to ponder what they “need to know to be a culturally competent faculty member in this area.”

“[H]ow can faculty foster teaching and inclusive learning environments which facilitate the success of all students, whatever their backgrounds and identities?” The advertisement continues. 

The upcoming event is being co-hosted by LMU’s LGBTQ Students Services & Interculturalism office and the Center for Teaching Excellence. 

[RELATED: ‘Transgender handouts’ examine ‘Gender-Normative Privilege’] 

According to Ochs’ website, the activist will also be traveling to Harvard University, the University of San Diego, Texas Christian University, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for various speaking engagements in September. 

Genny Beemyn, director of the UMass-Amherst Stonewall Center, praised Ochs in a testimonial featured on the same website, saying, “Robyn has probably done more than any other person in the U.S. and perhaps even the world to educate the general public about bisexuality.”

Campus Reform has reached out to Ochs and LMU for comment, but has not yet received a response from either.

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