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CAMRY DEAN
Special to The Leader
Last Tuesday Women’s Herstory Month kicked off with its first event, “Not Your High School Sex Ed,” where students learned about intersectionality, birth control and everything else that they might have missed in health class.
Fredonia was fortunate enough to host speaker, leader and activist Mickey Thomas. Thomas, who identifies as a “22-year-old agender, kinky, fat, pansexual black person with a disability who is of Jamaican and Cuban descent,” spoke to a lecture room full of queer individuals, feminists and allies alike about intersectional sex education.
Among the topics discussed at the workshop were queer and intersectional sex, birth control methods including emergency contraceptive, consent and finding access to healthcare. Thomas touched on everything with a bluntness which entertained and shocked many in the room.
“Who can get pregnant?” Thomas asked the group. “Anyone with a uterus. Not everyone who is going to get pregnant is going to be a woman. For example, I can get pregnant. I’m non-binary. I’m agender. I am not a woman.”
Thomas, who works with Planned Parenthood, explained that these “alternative, inclusive sexual education classes” are important because people often don’t have access to certain birth control methods or simple information regarding their sex lives.
“With Planned Parenthood, it’s low cost, sometimes even no cost depending on situations, and being able to have access to health care … [helps] bring awareness of certain birth control methods, and in some cases, it’s a saving grace,” Thomas said.
Many college students may be unknowledgeable about non-cis sex or how to prevent STIs or unwanted pregnancy. Often it’s up to an individual to find out on his or her own with no help from high school sex education classes.
“People with vaginas who are a part of the LGBTQ community are more likely to get pregnant because they didn’t have adequate sex ed,” Thomas said. “It’s important because a lot of the time, we don’t get enough access or information about these methods.”
In addition to the speaker, the night also included presentations from STEPS and an information table set up by FredAssist.
Melissa Mallay, biology and public health double major and social chair of FredAssist, explained that the campus organization for promoting safe sex is working on its inclusivity, and has previously worked with other groups such as Pride Alliance and Women’s Student Union (WSU).
“In terms of education, we’ve all been debriefed on how to talk about it,” she said. “In our meetings, it’s been decided that there needs to be more inclusion with these specific terms, pronouns and information.”
“Not Your High School Sex Ed” was the first event in Women’s Herstory Month, which has been celebrated annually in March since 1987. This year, the theme at Fredonia is “#KnowYourFeminism,” which WSU President and junior English and women’s and gender studies double major Dean Bavisotto said highlights the wide range of topics included under feminism.
“As long as there are women with disabilities, queer women, women of color, trans women, women of religious minorities, women of socio-economic statuses, etcetera, feminism must address and encompass all of these identities and intersections in order to truly make the world a better place for all women,” Bavisotto said at the event.
Other event topics that will be offered this month on campus include disability feminist activism, political campus engagement and the importance of voting, body positivity and social media, and gender and film.