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[OPINION] Lovercolumn: Gay culture at Fredonia

THE ELECTRICIAN

Logo recreation by Alex Erwin, Staff Writer.

Executive Producer and Host of Lovercall

THE ARCHITECT

Lovercall Producer 

THE QUARTERBACK

Lovercall Host

Hello! 

We are The Electrician, The Architect and The Quarterback: producers and hosts of the radio show Lovercall right here at Fredonia. Lovercall is an anonymous late-night talk show about love, relationships and more. Students who come on the show use a codename to protect their identities when discussing potentially personal topics, hence the codenames of the writers of this column.

“The Electrician” is a 21-year-old cisgender female student who uses she/her pronouns and is a senior at Fredonia. 

“The Architect” is a 20-year-old cisgender male student who uses he/him pronouns and is a senior at Fredonia. 

“The Quarterback” is a 19-year-old cisgender male student who uses he/him pronouns and is a sophomore at Fredonia.

On each episode, the hosts and guests of Lovercall participate in a variety of segments. The cast discusses a relevant news story, a date idea, a wacky game and a main topic for the episode.

Listeners also write into the show, either via Fredonia Radio’s Instagram, @fredonia_radio, on Yik Yak, or through the QR code provided in this column.  

We typically answer the questions asked right here in this column, so be sure to look out for student stories and questions in future columns. 

The show is now being streamed weekly on Wednesday nights from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on WDVL 89.5 on www.fredoniaradio.com. 

This column runs in conjunction with Lovercall and can be found both in print and online at fredonialeader.org

Date idea of the week

We hope to provide our fellow students with a fun and unique date idea in every column. These “date” ideas aren’t just for romantic partners — you could go with your friends, your classmates or you can even go solo for a fun activity in Fredonia.

This week, we here at Lovercall recommend dancing in the rain!

With the seasons changing, we’ve had plenty of rainy days that would be perfect for this.

Dancing in the rain, as cliche as it might appear in a movie, is a small but super romantic thing to do with your significant other.

While most couples might choose to do this during the day, you could also go at night and dance with only the car headlights shining on you.

You could even enhance the dance by playing a song you both love and dancing to it.

However, as we discussed, it might be a good idea to have a change of clothes after you’re done dancing — after all, nobody likes walking around in rain-soaked clothes.

Lovercallers

We call those who reach out to us with stories about love, sex and relationships “Lovercallers.”
This week, we answered a question from our Google form.

A person using the codename “WubblezBubbles” asked for some advice about flirting and being confident when talking to new people. WubblezBubbles identifies as pansexual. 

Here at Lovercall, we advise getting to know people before beginning to flirt. 

Many of us prefer to have friendships with people before dating them. 

This allows you to get more comfortable with that person while getting to know them without any stakes. 

Plus, once you feel more comfortable around this person, you may gain the confidence you need to flirt with them. 

You could always join clubs on campus to help you find people with similar interests, but sometimes just talking to people in the Starbucks line or around campus is a great way to branch out to other students. 

Although talking to new people can be scary, consider that there really aren’t any consequences if someone doesn’t match your vibe. 

All you need to do is move onto the next person and you will surely find someone who you enjoy being around. 

Gay Culture at Fredonia

Our topic this week was Gay Culture at Fredonia. 

Conveniently, this past episode fell on National Coming Out Day, on Oct. 11. 

Each of our guests identified as a sexuality other than heterosexual (not counting the hosts/producers). 

With the diversity among our guests, we were able to gather a wide variety of perspectives about the climate of gay culture at SUNY Fredonia. 

Each of our guests felt that Fredonia is a welcoming and accepting place. 

They felt that there was more of a gay culture at Fredonia than other schools. 

For instance, one of our guests, “The Librarian,” transferred to Fredonia from a religious college. She explained that sexuality was never really something that was talked about. 

At Fredonia, there are several accepting spaces. The college has clubs such as a pride alliance that welcome different sexualities. Fredonia also has a chosen name program and many teachers ask students their preferred pronouns. 

Our guests also provided advice to those who are gay and are looking to meet others. 

Generally, everyone agreed that most people on campus are accepting. Goose explained that people on campus are pretty nice if you just talk to them. 

It’s important to remember that we are all students and many of us are sharing the same experience. 

As for resources for students regarding their sexuality, many of our guests have had positive experiences with the counseling center on campus. 

This resource is free to all students, and the counselors are always willing to talk to students about navigating their sexuality. 

Patty, one of this week’s guests, explained that there are plenty of resources, but students are responsible for seeking them out themselves. 

Reach out!

Do you want to ask the authors of Lovercolumn a question? Do you need advice? Fill out the form by using this QR code.

Interested in being a guest on Lovercall? Email frs@fredonia.edu or visit Fredonia Radio Systems, located in McEwen Hall 115 and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“The Electrician,” “The Architect” and “The Quarterback” are members of Fredonia Radio Systems and are involved in the production of Lovercall.

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