The Q Center uses a peer to peer model to help connect with students

October is LGBTQ History Month, more informally known as OUTober at many universities, and Binghamton's Q Center is working hard to find new ways to share important and useful information with students on campus - including directly delivering these ideas through peer networks.

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The center's SOGIE educators' program - an acronym that stands for sexual orientation, gender identity and expression - is providing resources for college-aged people to share their experiences with people who share them.

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"I think it's important for young queer people to see older queer people just living their lives," said Aiden Braun, the coordinator for the Q Center. "That was one of the most important reasons why I wanted to do this work and tie in my personal experience in the community with my educational background."

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Originally, SOGIE educators were student interns, assisting with class presentations and workshops for other campus groups. However, with limits to time and schedule flexibility, there was little room for this program to grow. In the 2022-23 academic year, the Q Center decided to make the switch to paid positions and increased hours. Initially two educators and a third lead, the group expanded to four educators with the help of additional funding this semester.

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These changes allowed the group to do all the same work they were doing before, in addition to creating their own programming. On one or two Fridays a month, they lead the "Triple F" event known as Fashion with Flavor Fridays, in addition to other workshops, like a Grindr and hookup safety education event and a collaboration about kink safety with SHADES, an organization created for LGBTQIAP+ students of color on campus.

Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

What does pride mean to you?

"It's being visible to the broader community, for cisgender-heterosexual people, to show that this is who we are, and we're part of this space as well. We're proud of our identity. We're proud of ourselves as a community and our history and where we come from - but also, where we're going, the things that we're fighting for, whether that be legally, politically or socially." - Iris Defino

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"Pride is the opportunity for people to be who they want to be, having no fear of being their authentic selves and the inner confidence in yourself to have that space. Pride makes it possible to explore and develop that. You can always learn new things about yourself, your identity,and your sexuality as you go on. It's not a set thing." - Nicole Pentecostes

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"Pride began as a fight for queer liberation and freedom and will always stand for that in my mind. Whether it be the liberation of our authentic self to the public eye or the freedom to exist in spaces in society without discrimination. Pride encompasses freedom and liberation for all, around the world." - Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith (he/him) is a transfer student in his sophomore year. After hearing about the program at a job fair, he knew he had to apply.

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"When I arrived, I was excited to start fresh. I knew that to create an environment I would prosper in, I had to surround myself with community," Smith said. "It has been one the best decisions I've made so far."

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Smith believes that one of the most important aspects of the SOGIE role is to increase queer visibility on campus. Sharing the Q Center (and awareness days/months like OUTober) with new students - whether they be first years or transfers like himself - is essential to creating a healthier, happier campus, with resources for everyone who needs them.

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"I think a great thing about being an educator is that we can be someone's voice and representation," said Nicole Pentecostes (she/her), a SOGIE educator and sophomore majoring in global public health. "They get to voice out their opinions and their concerns with a campus community, and they can feel safe doing it. This is a university, and having open conversations is important, because that discussion might not be for everybody, yet a lot of people need to hear it and be part of it."

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Pentecostes got involved as a first-year student and said she was surprised to find that many people - even those who have been on campus their whole college career - had no idea where to find the Q Center. Making the space more visible is a personal goal for her. She thinks the program and Center, helped her become a more authentic version of herself and have taught her a lot about who she wants to be.

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She also believes that education is not just a one-way relationship - the other SOGIE educators and the students have things to teach her, too.

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"As I slowly got closer to the other SOGIE leads, I had the opportunity to be more open to things and learn, to educate myself through the process of educating others, which I think is a big part of my job," Pentecostes said. "I don't know everything about being queer - no one does - so seeing different perspectives is what's important for me. People should have the representation that they deserve on campus."

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Iris Defino (she/they) is a senior at Binghamton University, studying political science, human rights and pre-law, and originally applied as an intern to the Q Center before its professional staff urged them to pursue a SOGIE position. They've been working with the other educators to coordinate events centered around BIPOC issues in politics and to bring additional multicultural initiatives to existing programs like Rainbow Fest.

"There's also an event that I'm hoping to get more involved in, about being out in the workplace," she said. "It's a passion of mine to encourage people to be able to be more open about their sexuality and their experience in professions that tend to be more male-dominated or cis-het dominated."

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Defino finds the Q Center and its opportunities to connect a 'rejuvenating experience.' By creating safe spaces to learn and exist, Defino hopes to make queer identity more visible across campus to faculty and staff and students of all different levels.

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"We particularly try to focus on underclassmen and their classrooms or spaces," they said.

"Every interaction is a great way to get outreach, to make our center visible, but also to make queer issues visible and educate people. You never know what impact that can have on the way that people walk away from our trainings and our presentations and apply ideas to their own lives - whether that be for themselves, loved ones or peers."

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Braun agrees and aims to incorporate a breadth of experiences into the Q Center's OUTober programming - and beyond.

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"I think it's important that we have education at every level," Braun said. "Students feel like they can connect to somebody closer to them in age, who may have a more similar life experience, and I think that's the merit of the program. It's important for students to see themselves in these roles."

​OUTober 2024

- Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays (Tuesday Edition) - Heartstopper S3 Watch Party - 3-7 p.m. Oct. 8, in the Q Center

- LGBTQ+ Pride March - 6-7 p.m. Oct. 9, on the Peace Quad

- Sex and Chocolate: Queer Edition - 3-5 p.m. Oct. 10, in the Q Center

- Zine Making w/ the Libraries - 4-5:30 p.m. Oct. 15, in the Innovation Lab (LN1305)

- International Pronoun Day Button Making - 12-4 p.m. Oct. 16, UU-Tilman Lobby

- I-GMAP Resident Practitioner Shadi Amin Talk: The Ugly Duckling: A Lesbian from an Islamic State Living in Exile - 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 17, in Admissions Building 189

- Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays - Spooky Season Karaoke w/ the LGBTQ+ Living Community Collab - 3-5 p.m. Oct. 18, in the Q Center

- Alumni Connection featuring Janna Barkin - Bridging the Gap: LGBTQ+ Young Adults and Elder Generations - 5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 20, in UU-111

- Asexual Awareness Week Tabling - 12-4 p.m. Oct. 21, in UU-Tilman Lobby

- Be Your Own Lover w/ B-Healthy - 3:30-5:30 p.m. Oct. 24, in the Q Center

- Out at Work Summit: Empowering LGBTQ+ Voices in the Workplace w/ the Fleishman Center - 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 24, in Old Champlain Atrium

- Fashion w/ Flavor Fridays - WGSS Movie Screening and Discussion - 3-5 p.m. Oct. 25, in the Q Center

- Intersex Awareness Day Tabling - noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 28, in UU-Tilman Lobby

- Queer-ies: Ace + Aro IdentitiesPanel - 6-7 p.m. Oct. 28, in the Q Center

- Drag Queen Story Time: Sparkles and Scholars - 5-6:30 p.m. Oct. 29, in C4 MPR

- Rocky Horror Picture Show Watch Party w/ B-Healthy - 6:30-9 p.m. Oct. 31, in UU-Undergrounds Lounge

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