Speaker's Bureau
At PRIDE! Kent, we offer a service called the "Speakers Bureau" where we have a panel of speakers go into classrooms, dorms, and other such situations and we talk about issues related to being lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. We talk about coming out, health issues related to the LGBT community, as well as answer any questions that the students or staff may have. Speaking groups generally include anywhere between 2-5 students, depending on when a group is asked to speak.
Each speaker is volunteering their time, experience, and has been trained and is comfortable speaking in front of groups about LGBT issues and their own personal lives. Presentations generally take between 20-40 minutes depending on how many speakers are available. After the speakers present, audiences are encouraged to ask as many and any questions that they may have. It is suggested that people set aside 50-60 minutes for a presentation, however time may go over if allowed.
Request a Presentation
Please contact us if you are interested in having the Speaker's Bureau come to your meeting. E-mail us at pridekent@yahoo.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible in order to schedule a presentation.
We require that at least two weeks are given for
the speakers to clear their schedules and prepare for each
presentation. In saying that, please do not contact PRIDE! Kent for
a speaker's bureau in less time than two weeks.
See the Speaker's Bureau in the news!
LBGT issues addressed in Koonce Hall
4/11/06, Daily Kent Stater
That term is so degrading, said junior zoology major Shawn Szymecki.
Szymecki, PRIDE!Kent vice-president-elect and secretary, said that particular phrase tossed around in society represents an injustice to the LGBT community.
"You're equating gay people with stupidity," he said.
More than 20 students participated in an informal discussion surrounding LGBT issues yesterday evening in Koonce Hall.
The panel was sponsored by the Speaker's Bureau, which provides opportunities for students to discuss issues with various groups on campus. Although PRIDE!Kent members were in attendance, the event was not sponsored by PRIDE, President Christopher Taylor said.
Panel members fielded questions from the audience ranging from diversity awareness to the issue of genetics in homosexuality.
"Gayness is genetic and not something that happens by choice," Szymecki said. "Most mammal classifications have homosexual patterns within their species."
He said social programming, along with genetics, have been studied as several factors that could influence homosexuality at an early age.
Lesbians in particular have several challenges in dealing with society, freshman art major Ally Oulton said.
"If a straight guy is hitting on me, I have a hard choice," she said. "If I tell him I'm not interested, he gets mad. If I tell him I'm a lesbian, that intrigues him more and makes it worse."
Consequently, Oulton said if she refuses the advances of some men, they then will accuse her of hating all males.
Melinda Shilling, junior integrated language arts major, who was in the audience, said she liked how each respondent of the seven-member panel gave an individualized view of his or her situation as LGBT members.
"I liked to see their personal opinions," Shilling said. "They represented themselves in their own way, not as a group."