Robyn Ochs

All the Letters: Understanding LGBTQIA+ Identities & Experiences Today
How are people using and experiencing sexual orientation and gender right now? And what do you need to know to be culturally competent in this area? Bring your questions, and an open mind.

Getting Bi: Bisexuality 101 & Beyond
What does it mean to identify as bi+ (bisexual, pansexual, fluid, etc.)? What are challenges to recognizing and understanding non-binary sexualities—the largest yet often-overlooked segment of the LGBTQ+ community? No matter how you identify, come to this engaging and interactive program if you could use some tools for challenging ignorance, biphobia, and bi erasure.

Beyond Binaries: Identity and Sexuality
How do we assign labels to our complex experiences of identity? In this interactive program, we explore the landscape of sexuality, conduct a thought-provoking anonymous survey of those present, and look together at the data. How do we identify, privately and publicly? Where do we locate ourselves on sexuality and gender continua? How old were we when we came to our identities? How a[sexual] are we? How well do our friends/family members understand us? This program will change the way you think about labels and deconstruct binary systems of identity.

Loosening the Gender Girdle: How Gender Affects You
What does it mean to be “a man”? What does it mean to be “a woman”? What other options are there? We will look at the ways in which we are limited by a rigid and limited binary understanding of gender and explore how the politics of gender tie together the feminist, LGBTQ+, and transgender movements. Please join us and bring your gender with you.

Side Bi Side: Unpacking Biphobia and Bi Erasure and Creating a Culture of Inclusion
The Williams Institute estimates that half of the LGB population self-identifies as bisexual and/or pansexual. Recent research points to high levels of minority stress in this population, yet there is little direct attention given to this population. We will explore definitions of bisexuality and other labels claimed by people who occupy the space between and outside of the binaries, look at some of the challenges to recognizing and understanding this often-overlooked segment of the LGBTQ+ community and brainstorm strategies for supporting bisexual people.