the pitt news
volume 109|issue 105
cover by thomas yang|assistant visual editor
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February 14, 2019
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News
GSWS program to offer minor in LGBTQ+ studies pittnews.com
College students say “screw you” to sex pittnews.com
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION THROUGH FLAGS
Joanna Li
1999 by Monica Helms, a trans woman. The flag consists of light pink and light blue — the pink representing baby girls and the blue repreall images via wikimedia commons senting baby boys. The stripe in the middle is white, representing those The iconic, instantly recognizable rainbow flag featured on who are transitioning. this year’s Sex Edition cover isn’t the only flag members of the “The pattern is such that no matter which way you fly it, it will alLGBTQ+ community rally around. Since the late artist Gilbert ways be correct. This symbolizes us trying to find correctness in our Baker first flew the rainbow flag in 1978, countless other activown lives,” Helms said. ists and artists have created identity flags. The font on the front cover is called “Gilbert,” named after Baker, who died March 31, 2017. Here, we go through a brief history of other LGBTQ+ identity flags that represent different parts of the broad community. Rainbow pride flag The traditional gay pride flag, the pattern most familiar, was created in 1978 by Gilbert Baker. With six original colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple — the flag was later expanded to include hot pink, turquoise and indigo. The official Gilbert Baker pride flag includes eight colors, each representing a different aspect of queer pride. In order, the colors symbolize sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, serenity and spirit. Lesbian flag The lesbian flag consists of six shades of red and pink variations with a white stripe in the middle. The original flag included a red kiss symbol in the upper left hand corner, but in later versions, the kiss was removed. News Editor
Nonbinary flag
The nonbinary flag was created in 2014 by 17-year-old Kye Rowan. Though similar to the genderqueer flag, this flag was created for nonbinary people wåho did not feel represented under the genderqueer flag. From top to bottom, the colors of the flag are yellow, white, purple and black.
Bisexual flag The bisexual flag was designed by Michael Page in 1998. The top stripe of the flag is pink and the bottom stripe of the flag is blue, representing the stereotypical colors of men and women. The stripe in the middle is purple, representing an overlap of the two colors bordering it.
Transgender flag The flag representing the transgender community was created in
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Asexual flag With its colors, the asexual flag represents several ace identities. The flag was created in 2010 by a member of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, or AVEN, and includes four colors — black, gray, white and purple. The black signifies asexuality, gray signifies gray-sexuals and demisexuals, white signifies nonsexual partners and allies and purple signifies community. Genderqueer flag With lavender, white and green, the genderqueer flag represents androgyny, agender identities and nonbinary people, respectively. This flag was created in 2011 by Marilyn Roxie and has since become a symbol to the movement of gender neutrality.
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Philadelphia People of Color Inclusive Flag The Philadelphia people of color inclusive flag, created in 2018 by Daniel Quasar, is similar to the original pride flag, but with the addition of black and brown stripes at the top. This is an effort to emphasize that the LGBTQ+ community includes members of all skin colors.
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GROUP OFFERS COMMUNITY, EXPLORING THE GRAY SAFE SPACE TO LGBTQ+ STAFF AREAS OF ASEXUALITY Neena Hagen
Senior Staff Writer To most members of the Pitt community, Michael Campbell has quite the day job. He’s a workshop assistant in the Center for Creativity, a small enclave in the basement of the University Store, where he designs workshops for students that include toppling Jenga towers or making abstract chalk artwork. But Campbell said he looks forward to weekday evenings the most, when he often gets to network and socialize with fellow members of Pitt Queer Professionals — an organization he chairs. “I’m a workshop assistant by day, PQP chair by night … Well, I think about my night job during the day, too,” he said with a chuckle, pushing a Lego monstrosity off the couch in the Center for Creativity. PQP is the only major affinity group on campus designed specifically to serve Pitt’s LGBTQ+ faculty and staff, and it’s somewhat new. When Campbell finished his graduate degree at Pitt in 2016, no such group existed for LGBTQ+ staff, and he said that needed to change. “During my staff orientation in 2016, the only really active affinity group on campus was the African-American/Black Affinity group,” Campbell said. “When I was hired to work for the Center [for Creativity], PQP was just a concept, so I reached out to the affinity groups coordinator and asked to get involved.” Under Campbell’s leadership this past year, PQP’s membership has grown from fewer than a dozen when the organization was founded in 2016 to more than 100. PQP secretary Anthony Verardi said the organization provides an important outlet for him and his peers to discuss issues plaguing the LGBTQ+ community on campus. “The core, unifying mission of PQP is simply the improvement of the University of Pittsburgh for queer people,” Verardi said. “I personally see PQP as a space to convene, as employees, with others who share facets of their identities in order to find support for mutual interests and advance common goals.” Those spaces to convene are often bars
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around Pittsburgh where a couple dozen members meet to socialize and network once a week, and where the organization does nearly all of its fundraising. It’s a setting Verardi said he and many other members enjoy very much. “It’s therapeutic to have a space to go to and just have a laugh with people who get where you’re coming from in ways that sometimes my non-queer peers and colleagues can’t,” Verardi said. Topics of conversation at these meetings can range from Pitt to politics to sports. But Campbell said as the organization grows in numbers, it needs to move past idle chitchat and actually affect positive change for LGBTQ+ people at the University. He wants to hold more events and fundraisers with that goal in mind. Verardi thinks PQP should put some of its money toward an LGBTQ+ Research and Outreach fund, which would support students doing research or services specifically related to the LGBTQ+ community, where he said funding is often difficult to attain. In order to actually get LGBTQ+ faculty on the radar at the University, PQP held its first panel in October, “Queer Issues in the Workplace,” which brought together a range of faculty and staff to discuss the “good, bad and ugly” experiences with being LGBTQ+ at work. But Verardi had no negative experiences to share. “I would say we feel both understood and supported by the University,” Verardi said. “We aim to foster an atmosphere where people are welcome to share their viewpoints openly.” Gender, sexuality and women’s studies professor and former PQP chair, Julie Beaulieu, agreed that Pitt’s community seems inclusive, but said it’s difficult to tell because her work hub is already “dedicated to diversity and inclusion.” But Beaulieu did say it’s important for Pitt’s LGBTQ+ faculty to be a voice for students. “I would like to see more [student] engagement with PQP,” Beaulieu said. “These forms of mentorship are incredibly valuable given that we, as LGBTQ+ people, do not See Staff on page 5
Maggie Young Staff Writer
Asexuality is a sexuality with a wide spectrum that has risen in prominence only recently. Lexi Casanova didn’t learn what asexuality meant until her second year of college. Jacob Mahaffey first learned about it while watching Netflix during his first year. Both students now connect themselves to the
People may associate asexuality with nonsexuality or just a complete absence of sexuality, Casanova, a junior pharmacy student, said. But asexuality is a sexual orientation, meaning a whole spectrum of sexual attraction exists — not just a void of sexuality. Casanova emphasized that this incorrect polarization leads to a misunderstanding of what it means for people to be asexual.
Jacob Mahaffey, who identifies as asexual, first learned about the term through “BoJack Horseman,” an animated comedy series on Netflix. Hannah Heisler | staff photographer asexual spectrum. According to a study done by Brock University in Ontario, asexuals currently represent about 1 percent of the population. Those who identify want others outside of the community to know that asexuality is an umbrella term, representing a spectrum of identifications. Asexuality is a sexual orientation — different from sexual behavior.
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“There’s all this stigma around asexuality. I don’t want to say, like, I’m asexual, and to most people that’s going to mean just non-sexuality. They don’t really know what that means,” Casanova said. “It’s more how other people are going to perceive my sexuality after I say I’m asexual, because I know that See Asexual on page 6
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Staff, pg. 4 always have access to queer mentors or elders.” Campbell said he’s already working on several initiatives to connect LGBTQ+ students and faculty, including one in his own work environment — the Center for Creativity. “We’re gonna have a once-a-month queer crafts hour,” Campbell said. “The
and a sophomore biology major who spearheads the LLC’s inclusivity discussions, said it’s important for all LGBTQ+ people on campus to have access to safe spaces, whether they’re first-year students or tenured faculty. “[Safe spaces] just add that extra feeling of knowing people are there for you,” Ferrante said. “Students and faculty can come together and support each other even when the outside world doesn’t.”
Michael Campbell is a workshop assistant in the Center for Creativity and chair of Pitt Queer Professionals. via utimes.pitt.edu organization tends to focus on faculty and staff but we also want to build a larger community that includes students.” Of the many LGBTQ+ organizations that have cropped up on Pitt’s campus in recent years, nearly all of them are exclusively for students. The Gender and Sexuality Living and Learning Community, for example, houses a dozen LGBTQ+ first-years in Lothrop Hall and boasts the University’s only gender-neutral communal bathroom. Ryan Ferrante, the resident assistant
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As LGBTQ+ organizations continue to grow and flourish on Pitt’s campus, many members, including Beaulieu, look forward to the progress that is to come. “We respond to the needs of our group members, which means that we will continue to change and grow as our community grows,” Beaulieu said. “I’m always excited to see community service partnerships that inspire Pitt faculty and staff to serve the broader LGBTQ+ community in Pittsburgh.”
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Asexual, pg. 4 how they’re going to perceive it is not how I am or what I mean when I say it. It’s a systemic issue.” It’s important to imagine a spectrum when thinking about asexuality, Casanova said. Some terms that fall under the asexuality umbrella include demisexuality — meaning someone doesn’t experience sexual attraction until after an emotional connection has been developed — and graysexuality, or gray-A, which can include people who experience a low sex drive or only desire sex in specific or limited circumstances, among other definitions.
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In addition, Casanova said someone can be romantic or aromantic. Engaging in sexual relationships is different from engaging in romantic ones, and some people can be asexual and romantic, meaning they still enjoy romantic relationships. Because of the scope of this spectrum, Casanova said she doesn’t like to label herself. “I don’t like labeling because it’s such an everchanging thing. Asexuality, just like heterosexuality and homosexuality, is a spectrum. It’s an umbrella term, so there’s different subsets to asexuality,” Casanova said. “At first, I thought I was demisexual, but then I did some more research and I learned about asexual and romantic and aroman-
tic. Now I think that I feel I can relate to all of those at any time. It’s changing every minute of the day.” Mahaffey, a sophomore film production and communication and rhetoric double major, said gray-sexuality helps others understand that it really is a spectrum of sexual attraction. Someone who is asexual could not want to have sex ever, but it doesn’t have to be the same for everybody or even the same for one person at any point in time. “The phrase I hear a lot is gray-sexual, because it’s not a black-and-white issue. The term graysexual opens it up to the spectrum aspect or you can just be in the middle. It’s not ‘I love sex all the time’ and ‘I never wanna have it ever.’ It’s just that
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in-between state that’s really cool,” Mahaffey said. Mahaffey first learned about asexuality in the fall of 2017 while watching the Netflix series “BoJack Horseman.” He thought there was something to describe what he was feeling, but it was while watching the series that he applied asexuality to his own identity. “Seeing [asexuality] as a viable option that someone could identify as, seeing that represented — it’s not a common thing but it’s a thing nonetheless — it was just really, really nice to be able to see that,” Mahaffey said. “Even if it’s just a cartoon, it’s still really nice to see anywhere.” Mahaffey said. Aside from “BoJack,” Mahaffey said he has yet to see asexuality represented in movies or television. Casanova said she had never seen it represented in media at all, or if it was, it wasn’t central to the plot. Casanova and Mahaffey agreed that the absence of asexual representation contributes to the misconceptions about asexuality and general lack of knowledge. Because sex is seen as something that everybody is doing all the time, it can be confusing for an asexual person to not see their thoughts represented somewhere anyone could see it and understand. “When you don’t have this representation basically saying this is a viable option and it’s okay to identify this way, it’s a sort of pressure you feel from all of our society that sex is something you have to be having, which it isn’t,” Mahaffey said. “I think a big part is realizing that you don’t have to do that. Having ace characters is important in saying this is something you can feel, you don’t have to want to do this.” Julie Beaulieu, a lecturer in gender, sexuality and women’s studies, said it’s important to know about the variances in asexuality. If people aren’t taught about asexuality, it’s easier for them — asexual or not — to see sex as something they have to be doing. “Perhaps most vital, teaching asexualities allows us to think deeply about the harm of compulsory ways of being, which can force people into intimacies that are not, in fact, satisfying or completely voluntary,” Beaulieu said over email. In addition to knowing that asexuality is something many people identify with, Mahaffey said he doesn’t want anything he has said to cause others to pigeonhole his sexuality. “There are people who don’t wanna have sex, and that’s totally fine,” Mahaffey said. “We just like other things. We’re just not concerned about that. It’s on a spectrum, so if we say we’re ace but we want to do something it doesn’t mean that we’re not still ace. It’s on a spectrum so you may feel some attraction and you may feel none, it really varies from person to person.”
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Opinions
columns
LEAVE VAGINAS NON-INCLUSIVE SEX ED PUTS OUT OF FEMINISM LGBTQ+ YOUTH AT RISK
Leah Mensch
Staff Columnist In order to march forward, it’s time to drop the vagina as a protest symbol. The first annual Women’s March occurred on an unusually warm Saturday in January 2017. But the sunny weather and humid air didn’t stop hoards of women from showing up wearing pink “pussyhats.” The hat is a simple knitted pattern with pink yarn, which folds upwards in the corners to resemble the ears of a pussycat. The official name is now being trademarked. The vagina has become a symbol of resistance against female oppression, but the female gender is much more complicated than a body part. Sex, though it can be altered, is biological. But the Women’s March was never a movement focused on biology. Rather, its focus is gender discrimination and gender rights. By definition, gender is a means of expression. In other words, not all people who identify as female actually have a vagina. Feminism values inclusivity and intersectionality. If we really want to make feminism all-inclusive, then it’s time to step away from the pussyhats and vagina-oriented slogans. Inclusivity, a trait central to feminism, was also a main mission for the founders of the Women’s March. “Women’s March is a women-led movement providing intersectional education on a diverse range of issues and creating entry points for new grassroots activists and organizers to engage in their local communities through trainings, outreach programs and events,” according to the official website. But the pussyhats, representing anatomy that some women do not have, don’t
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Julia Kreutzer
Eli Savage | contributing editor provide intersectional representation. And though the hats aren’t directly affiliated with the Women’s March itself, public figures affiliated with the march have shown their public support for the hats. Cecile Richards, president of Planned See Mensch on page 8
Staff Columnist Around the country, thousands of middle schools just like mine packed students into our recreation room, separated us by gender and presented an annual “sex education” program. I came out of the program believing there was no need to learn about sexual health, contraceptives or consent. After all, I was led to believe sex only occurred within a marriage between a man and a woman magically prepared to have children. But clearly, this is far from reality. This gap in education leaves everyone at risk, but puts LGBTQ+ youth at higher risk of dangerous outcomes from unsafe sex. LGBTQ+ individuals statistically face larger risks of contracting an STD. Men who have sex with men account for 83 percent of primary and secondary syphilis cases in the United States and are 17 times more likely than straight men to develop anal or oral cancers, per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Women who have sex with women (WSW) have a higher risk of Gardnerella Vaginalis, which causes irritation and a bad odor, according to Oxford Academic. To decrease the number of LGBTQ+ individuals put at risk, inclusive education is needed to keep students safe and encourage security in their sexual and gender identities. A lack of comprehensive, LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education leaves sexually active communities ill-equipped with the tools and knowledge they need to engage in safe sex, leading to life threatening consequences. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV poses a serious risk to approximately 492,000 sexually active gay and bisexual men, making LGBTQ+ men the most affected group in the United States. These statistics are no secret to health professionals or lawmakers. The Red Cross
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still prohibits men who have had sex with other men in the past 12 months from donating blood. But policies like these label LGBTQ+ individuals as dangerous rather than highlight the need for better education on safe sex. Despite 85 percent of parents supporting inclusive sex ed in high school and 78 percent supporting this kind of a curriculum in middle school, a 2015 study from the Public Religion Research Institute found only 12 percent of millennials’ sex education classes discussed same-sex relationships. While parents seem to support inclusive approaches, most state legislators have lagged behind. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia require sex ed, yet only California, Colorado, Iowa, Washington and the District of Columbia require this curriculum to be LGBTQ+-inclusive. What’s worse is that eight states — Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah — specifically prohibit same-sex inclusive approaches. A 1992 law in Alabama outlining the standards schools who opt for sex ed should follow depicts an outdated and dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ stance that has only recently been acknowledged. It claims teachers should put “an emphasis, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of this state.” The Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee finally voted in 2018 to remove the phrase from its policy. While Alabama lawmakers may be less willing to uphold an explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, failing to add policies that further accommodate students of all identities demonstrates a failure to address the health and education of LGSee Kreutzer on page 10
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Mensch, pg. 7 Parenthood from 2010 to 2018, was inspired by the simple pink hat. She posted a video of herself knitting one for the march on her personal Instagram page. The female creators of the pussyhat, Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman, explain the personal meaning of the hat pattern on their website. “[It] was chosen in part as a protest against vulgar comments Donald Trump made about the freedom he felt to grab women’s genitals, to destigmatize the word ‘pussy’ and transform it into one of empowerment and to highlight the design of the hat’s pussycat ears,” the women wrote. Those who knit and sport the hats obviously mean well, but listening to women who express their discomfort is important. Vaginas promote a narrow view of feminism when applied to a movement as a whole. The conflict over the vagina seems to have been pushed to the back burner, considering the other scandals the Women’s March has faced. Over the past few years, the march has been criticized
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for not being as inclusive as it claims to be. Organizers have been accused of anti-Semitic actions and racial discrimination. Activists have made major efforts to increase inclusivity of the march. A founder of the march, Teresa Shook, made a public statement asking some of the co-founders to step down from their positions this past November. “In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs,” Shook wrote in her Facebook post. “I call for the current co-chairs to step down and to let others lead who can restore faith in the movement and its original intent.” Jade Lejeck, a 28-year-old trans woman from California, does not attend women’s movements. She was originally turned off by the pussyhat, as she felt that it signaled more trans discrimination within feminism ahead. “I believe there’s a lot of inequality that has to do with genitals — that’s not
something you can separate from the feminist movement,” Lejeck said in an interview with Mic. “But I feel like I’ve tried to get involved in feminism and there’s always been a blockade there for trans women.” The founders and those who wear pussyhats mean well. But a change toward inclusivity starts with understanding feminist intersectionality and listening to the voices of those who feel excluded, including trans women and nonbinary people. The International Women’s Development Agency published an article in 2017 highlighting the actions one must take to become an intersectional feminist ally. Twwhe second point examines the importance of people being able to “take the time to listen and make the space for others.” The step emphasizes one’s willingness to listen to the opinions, requests and ideas of those who feel left behind in the feminist movement. “Give them your full attention, and listen,” the article says. “Their stories may not make it into mainstream media often, but they’re there — sometimes it
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just takes a little digging.” The creators of the pussyhat made a public statement on the lack of inclusivity in 2017. “Some people have questioned whether the very name ‘pussyhats’ means our movement is saying only people with vaginas can be feminists. No way!” the website says. “Trans people and intersex people and people with any genital anatomy can be feminists and wear Pussyhats™. Feminists who wear Pussyhats™ fight transmisogyny and support ALL women.” Despite the statement, many women are still uncomfortable with the protest symbol. The creators’ statement seems to indicate that people should conform to the idea that anatomy governs gender. But as feminists, we need to listen to the women who feel left out of the movement. If we want to show women without vaginas that they are just as much a part of the feminist movement as cisgender women, then it’s time to get more creative with protest symbols. After all, the feminism is about empowering all women — not just those with a vagina.
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Kreutzer, pg. 7 BTQ+ youth. All students, regardless of their sexual identity, should know how to keep themselves and their partners safe. Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national organization specifically focused on ensuring safety for LGBTQ+ students, found there is truly one approach to sex education that best equips all students to understand sexual health in all kinds of relationships. Instead of ignoring, demonizing, stigmatizing or excluding LGBTQ+ students, GLSEN recommends a wholly inclusive approach. This curriculum doesn’t establish heterosexuality as the norm, recognizes students of all gender identities or sexual orientations and provides each student with the education they need and deserve. Rather than isolating LGBTQ+ issues as special topics, this approach helps all students recognize the importance of sexual health in every relationship. According to EG Greytak and JG Kosciw, contributors for GLSEN’s book, “Creating Safe and Supportive Learn-
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ing Environments: A Guide for Working With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth and Families,” this approach is not just a positive for LGBTQ+ students. “This would benefit not only LGBT youth, but also provide non-LGBT youth with an opportunity to dispel myths about issues of sexual orientation and gender and broaden their understanding about LGBT peoples and communities,” Greytak and Kosciw wrote. Abstinence-only education has been proven to be ineffective in reducing teen pregnancy rates or the risk of getting an STD. Students are forced to learn the basic facts about contraceptives, STD testing, and more all on their own. In particular, many LGBTQ+ students were never educated about how to protect themselves and their partners, leaving many young people unaware of or incapable of combating the risks they face. To combat rising STD rates, prevent stigma, and affirm LGBTQ+ students, we need to get comfortable with what is sometimes an uncomfortable, yet ultimately necessary lesson inclusive sex education has to offer.
Daniel Walsh | staff illustrator
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Culture
SLAYING THE PITTSBURGH DRAG SCENE Alexa Marzina Staff Writer
Nick Daniels doesn’t allow gender and sexuality labels created by “overthinking millennials” to define him whether he’s in or out of drag. “I am considered to be transgender, but that is a very millennial thing,” Daniels said. “I identify as me.” While 50-year-old Daniels, who performs in drag as Nikki Danielle, comes from an era of drag and cross-dressing full of taboos and risks that have lessened in today’s culture, he admits he still wouldn’t feel safe walking around outside wearing a skirt. “There’s some fool who will always say, ‘You’re a fag, I’ll beat the piss out of you,’” Daniels said. “[But] I command respect. If you wanna play, we can play.” While drag seems to have a very sexualized culture in mainstream media,
onym for safety reasons, describes drag as a form of “radical self-expression.” They had pondered the concept of gender for a large part of their life and only fell into the drag world when they came to college. “I’ve always really enjoyed the male aesthetic,” they said, “although it wasn’t really something I was allowed to convey in my house.” For a lot of drag performers, their on-stage persona is a character, or at least an exaggeration of their typical demeanor. Performing as drag king Eddie Alabaster, Nora is able to be more “loud” and “crazy” than they are in dayto-day life. “It’s given me a sense of self-worth,” Erin Reis (left) next to her drag persona, Noah Little (right). Sarah Cutshall | they said. “I can be funny for once — visual editor (left) and Hannah Heisler | staff photographer (right). maybe a few times.” normally based on transphobic beliefs another form of performing arts. Other times, what a drag queen or Nora*, a junior molecular biology king presents on stage can represent the that drag is only performed by “confused men” dressed as women, it is just major who requested to use a pseudSee Drag on page 13
NEW CLUB OFFERS HOME FOR LGBTQ+ STUDENTS WITH ASIAN ROOTS Amanda Giamalis For The Pitt News
Aquarius was created after founder Carolyn Chen noticed a lack of intersectionality in the LGBTQ+ community on campus. Photo via Pitt AQUARIUS | facebook
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To most people, the word “aquarius” triggers thoughts of magazine horoscopes and tarot cards. For the members of the on-campus club AQUARIUS, the word represents community and solidarity for an under-represented group. The title AQUARIUS is an acronym for “Alliance of Queer Underrepresented Asians in Recognition of Intersectionality to Uphold Solidarity.” The club has been an official, active club at Pitt since November 2018 and now has more than 30 members. Senior psychology major Carolyn Chen, who does Asian-American LGBTQ+ research within the psychology department, was inspired by her research to start the
club. As a queer Asian woman, she noticed a lack of intersectionality within the LGBTQ+ community on campus. “While discussing my [research] with a faculty member, our current adviser Dr. Montano, we got onto the topic of clubs at Pitt. We had offhandedly mentioned that it would be interesting if Pitt had a club specifically made for the Asian-American LGBT community,” Chen said. “This sort of spiraled into action because it seemed like something Pitt needed. Although Pitt does offer safe spaces for the queer community, there has always been, in my opinion, a lack of talk about the intersectionality of race and being queer.” Chen took to social media to look for like-minded, club-searching students. She
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posted a Facebook status asking if any other students would be interested in starting a club advocating for the representation of queer Asian students. To her surprise, she immediately got some responses. One student who was quick to respond was Jeff Zeng, a senior studying theatre arts, economics and statistics. “I don’t know if it was fate, but I saw her post minutes after she sent it,” Zeng, now the vice president of AQUARIUS, said. “To see someone else who thought like me, who wanted to form a community and give this community a voice, I felt really good and felt so grateful.” As a first-generation Chinese-American, Zeng hopes the club will reach other stuSee Club on page 12
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Club, pg. 11 dents with similar backgrounds. “Our goal right now — the reason why we exist — is that we want to bring awareness to the complexities and the multitude of identities that exist in the LGBTQIA+ community,” he said. “AQUARIUS is basically a crossroad of being in two different minority groups, and kind of figuring out what it means to be Asian and part of the LGBTQIA+ community.” For Chen, finding a vice president who was just as passionate as her was an important step forward for getting the club started. “It was slightly difficult to find members to be on my executive board, but once I had Jeff, he really helped facilitate everything and made everything fall into place,” she said. The pair teamed up with their coordinator Neerja Garikipati, a sophomore mo-
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lecular biology major, and business manager Beatrice Fadrigon, a sophomore psychology major. This process began in the summer of 2018 and the club was approved in November of that year. Each founding member has played a vital role in the club, according to Zeng. “I really want to emphasize that this is all a group effort. Not one person is doing all the work. We are working so hard because it is so very new, establishing ourselves in the Pitt community, and so we are networking and reaching out to people,” he said. “It is so much work. And so, I am a part of this effort along with Carolyn, Neerja and Beatrice and all of our wonderful members.” Zeng’s Asian heritage is close to his heart and enforces his strong support for intersectionality. He wants to make more people realize that Asian backgrounds are more diverse than most people think, and adding an LGBTQ+ identity to that creates more of
a specific — yet no less valid — perspective on life. “Asia is a massive continent that includes countless ethnicities, cultures, races, religions and a huge misconception is that Asia is a monolith, or that we’re all the same and that we share similar ideas and we all look the same,” Zeng said. “That’s not the case, and that is very important to us and that is something we want to recognize. We want to bring emphasis to different Asian identities.” Fadrigon echoed this idea and shared that the message of AQUARIUS has helped students new to the club feel welcome and accepted. “Last meeting, we had a new member who was very excited about the existence of [AQUARIUS]. She had missed our previous two meetings and she was like, ‘I am so excited about this, I didn’t even know it was a club, if I did, I would’ve came sooner,’” she said. “So I think that kind of impact —
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people realizing that it exists — is starting now and I want to keep that going.” The club does not currently have a set date for meetings, but they try to meet a few times per month, with special events throughout the semester. They also try to collaborate with other student organizations when planning these events. Chen discussed future events of AQUARIUS, such as a dance and art exhibit on March 6, in collaboration with other organizations on campus like the Tower A hall council and the STEM-based LGBTQ+ group Out in STEM. For Chen, the club has provided a level of acceptance for her that she had not yet felt at Pitt. “The thing I enjoy most is the fact that AQUARIUS is a club that’s catered for Asian-Americans,” she said. “It feels like home and it’s such a safe space for me.”
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Drag, pg. 11 denial of an LGBTQ+ identity earlier in life. Erin Reis, a 2017 Pitt graduate, grew up having to keep her sexuality “behind closed doors.” “I never got to be gay growing up. I had to fit inside these straight lines and that was just not good for me,” Reis said. “So all my gayness is coming out now.” Performing as drag king Noah Little lets Reis display confidence through a part of her identity that had been hidden for so long. Like Nora, Michael Reed — otherwise known as Tootsie Snyder — loves the entertainment value of performing in drag, as well as feeling connected to an audience or fans. “I’ve always wanted to entertain since I was a little kid,” Reed said in an email. “Drag has given me that opportunity to live that dream.” On the other hand, Daniels likes to make his audience think while he performs, based out of the old-school drag goal of creating the male-to-female person illusion. “[Nikki Danielle] wants straight men
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to question themselves. It has nothing to do with sexuality, it’s the mental, ‘Woah, that’s a man,’” he said. “It’s just another state of me. When I’m in drag, it’s just me with makeup on.” Drag’s presence in the media mainly consists of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which displays a type of drag that differs greatly from local drag — though the cattiness can be real, according to Nora. The show also only shows drag queens mostly portrayed by cisgender gay men. Nora and Reis both agree that while “Drag Race” is entertaining, it doesn’t accurately display the quality of drag or its community. Daniels refers to this as “watered-down” drag. “I think ‘Drag Race’ represents a fraction of the overall drag community,” Reed said. “Drag is open to many different interpretations.”
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The show’s host, RuPaul Charles, has faced notorious claims of being transphobic based on policing the gender identities of potential contestants. Charles is widely considered the most successful drag queen of all time for bringing drag into its current limelight, but Daniels said “Drag Race” has a long way to go to be able to fully express drag or LGBTQ+ culture. “I think it’s kind of audastic for [Charles] to intercede upon people’s art like that. I feel like he’s kind of force-feeding things down people’s throats,” Daniels said. “I don’t think that drag really needed to be mainstream.” Gone are the days — hopefully — that people think drag performances are for attaining sexual pleasure. Drag kings and queens are artists, performers and storytellers. They
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want to entertain an audience. “Half the time, I feel terrible when I’m doing drag,” Nora said, referring to the nerves and anxiety that come with performing in front of a crowd. “You have to think outside of yourself.” Being in front of a critical audience is no different than Reis’ day job. She is a computer science teacher for students grades nine through 12 at a local school, where she said up to a quarter of the students are LGBTQ+. “For a lot of the straight kids, I am the only gay person they know, which
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is kind of scary,” she said. “So I can’t be a ‘bad’ gay person. I can’t give the gay community a bad name.” Despite the confidence drag queens and kings are supposed to exemplify on stage, the performer doesn’t always have that same demeanor. Reed’s very first drag performance only happened thanks to pressure from Pitt grad and winner of the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” Alaska Thunderf — 5000. “The song was ‘Born To Die’ by Lana Del Rey, I thought I was hot shit.
I grabbed a beer out of someone’s hand mid-song and downed that sucker like my life depended on it,” Reed said in an email. “Was it a great performance? Not at all, but it was ripping off the BandAid.” LGBTQ+ and drag cultures are blossoming in Pittsburgh, with numerous gay bars and clubs hosting drag or other queer-affiliated shows — Element, 5801 Video Lounge and Blue Moon Bar, to name a few — in its multiple neighborhoods. Nora notes that there isn’t a day of the week that doesn’t have a
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drag show in Pittsburgh, and Reis said the camaraderie and bonds in the Pittsburgh drag community are very strong. “I saw a completely different side of Pittsburgh [at drag shows],” Nora said. As drag and LGBTQ+ culture become even more mainstream — whether or not it’s good for them, really — it’s important to remember the strenuous battle queer people have faced to have a community all their own. “I didn’t find out about drag,” Daniels said. “Drag found out about me.”
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Sports
column
SEMENYA’S SUCCESS DUE TO TALENT, NOT HORMONES
Dominic Campbell Staff Writer
For the past nine years, Caster Semenya, a South African middle-distance runner, has undergone scrutiny from the International Association of Athletic Federations, the governing body of track and field, because of her supposed hyperandrogenism. Hyperandrogenism is when there is an extra amount of androgens being produced in the body, including sex hormones like testosterone. Semenya has been put under the microscope by the IAAF and the media because of her supposed condition, and accused of being a man by her opponents and the public. She and other disorder of sexual differentiation athletes have been treated ignorantly by the organization meant to represent them, with their successes attributed to biology and not their talent. Because of this, Semenya has had her privacy broken and has not been given the recognition she deserves as one of the world’s greatest female runners. Semenya first gained attention in 2009 after winning the 800m run in 1:56.72 at the IAAF World Championships, the fastest time that year and four seconds faster than her time in the African Championships. But she has often been in the news more for biological reasons rather than for her track accomplishments. Soon after her first major win, many people started accusing Semenya of being a man or say-
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ing she had an unfair advantage due to her masculine features. There were reports that Semenya had undergone a sex verification test to make sure she was a female and not a male in 2009. The results of this test were never disclosed to the public, despite one report from the Daily Telegraph, a publication known for its sensationalism, that she had three times the testosterone level of a regular woman and had internal testes, the gland that produces testosterone. The IAAF made new rules on the issue of hyperandrogenism, limiting the level of testosterone in female athletes in 2011. In order to compete, these athletes, whose numbers are unknown, had to take hormone-suppressant pills, such as contraceptives, or had to have surgery to have internal testes removed. After the new rules were put in place, Semenya wasn’t as fast as she had been before and finished second in the 800m at Worlds in 2011 and at the London Summer Olympics in 2012, losing to Russian Mariya Savinova. She was eventually given the gold medal in both, though, when Savinova, who made comments implying Semenya was Caster Semenya, a South African track-and-field star, has faced criticism for competing with female runners because of her supposed hyperandrogenism. Via Chell Hill | wikimedia commons
a man, was stripped of her medals due to doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sports found there was no link to greater success of female athletes with hyperandrogenism and it was declared that the IAAF’s policy of hyperandrogenism would be suspended in 2015. IAAF was given two years to provide evidence that would show athletes with hyperandrogenism were at a greater advantage than those who didn’t have the condition. After the ruling, Semenya once again dominated the 800m. She won the event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and again at the 2017 World Championships in London. She also won the bronze medal in the 1500m in London. But recently, the IAAF decided to once again put limits on testosterone for female athletes for the 400m, 800m and 1,500m runs. The IAAF argued they had the evidence to show that more androgens in the body, which Semenya allegedly has, is related to higher muscle mass and strength. Semenya will be challenging the ruling, along with South Africa’s Athletics Association. Following this, there is no knowing what the next part of Semenya’s career will hold. The IAAF has released a statement on its findings, saying if a female has male levels of testosterone, they have an advantage.
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“If a DSD athlete has testes and male levels of testosterone, they get the same increases in bone and muscle size and strength and increases in hemoglobin that a male gets when they go through puberty, which is what gives men such a performance advantage over women,” the IAAF released in a statement. Because of this, female DSD athletes will have to once again reduce their levels of testosterone before they are allowed to compete on an international level. Instead of their talent, their levels of testosterone are being viewed as the main reason for their success. Interestingly, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that there is “no fundamental difference between congenital disorders leading to elevated testosterone levels, functional or not, and an erythropoietin receptor mutation leading to high hemoglobin.” Hemoglobin is important for those who are runners or deal with higher altitudes as it is a protein in the blood that helps oxygen get carried to the lungs. The more of it, the better someone is with breathing, running, sprinting and so forth. The study also notes there are no known disqualifications based on higher amounts of naturally occurring hemoglobin in the body, something that improves lung function and can be very beneficial See Semenya on page 16
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Semenya, pg. 15 for runners. The study concludes that “all of these biological differences are miniscule compared with the suspected use of performance-enhancing substances.” The problem with people continuously focusing on testosterone is that it ignores other factors that go into being a great athlete. These include hard work and dedication and also biological factors like genetics, height and muscle mass. Banning females with higher testosterone levels is like banning athletes who
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are naturally taller than others or who can easily build more muscle. There might as well be a ban on athletes born into wealth for having economic advantages that give them access to better training and resources. It’s also interesting that IAAF is only concerned with the 400m, 800m and 1,500m events –– two of the three events Semenya participates in. The IAAF could also focus on field events and even other sprints, like the 100m, or any of the hurdle events. This treatment is also only seemingly
directed at women athletes for being too strong, too athletic or too fast. No one gets mad at LeBron James for being as athletic as he is or for Usain Bolt for being as fast as he is. Nobody talks about how great soccer player Lionel Messi is, despite the fact he was treated for a growth hormone disorder he had as a kid. It’s likely that without the use of human growth hormones, Messi would not be the type of the player he is today. Athletes like Semenya should be celebrated instead of consistently criticized. It is incredible to see the strides women
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have made in sports over the past half century and Semenya is a clear example of that. There is so much more to her than her supposed high testosterone levels, and to see the amount of time she puts in to be one of the fittest athletes in the world then be labeled as having an unfair advantage is sad to see. Hopefully, the ruling will be in favor of Semenya and courts will find the IAAF will not be allowed to regulate the levels of testosterone in females and will allow women to compete as they should.
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I N D E X
Rentals & Sublet • NORTH OAKLAND • SOUTH OAKLAND • SHADYSIDE • SQUIRREL HILL • SOUTHSIDE • NORTHSIDE • BLOOMFIELD • ROOMMATES • OTHER
For Rent North Oakland 3 BR Apartment on 732 S. Millvale Ave. Available August 1, 2019. $1320‑$1630 +gas & electric. 412‑441‑1211. info@ forbesmanagement. net. www.forbesman agement.net Two ‑ 4BR apartments available August 2019. 4821 Centre Ave. Photos online, check out www. forbesmanagement. net, or call 412‑441‑1211. Apt. #1 ‑ $2690+gas/electric. Apt. #2 ‑ $2580+gas/ electric.
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walking distance to campus. Great location. $1200. All utilities included. Washer/dryer on site. Off‑street parking available. No pets/ smoking or parties. Call 412‑882‑7568 or email tsciulli123@ gmail.com **AUGUST 2019: Furnished studios, 1 and 2 bedroom apartments. No pets. Non‑smokers pre ferred. 412‑621‑0457. 1,2,3,4,5,6 bedroom houses in South Oakland. Available August 1st or May 1st. Newly remodeled. Bouquet, Meyran, Atwood, Semple St. Call 412‑287‑5712 for more information.
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2 Bedroom Apart ment. Rent: $1690 + electric. Avail‑ able August 1, 2019 on Louisa St. 412‑441‑1211. info@ forbesmanagement. net. www.forbesman agement.net. 2BR houses and apart ments available in August. Unfurnished, no pets. Atwood/S. Bouquet. Call 412‑492‑8173 3436 Ward. Spacious 2‑Bedroom, 1 bath, equipped kitchen, $1,195 + electric, Heat included. 412‑271‑5550
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R A T E S
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Apartments for rent. 2 and 3 bedroom apart‑ ments available. Some available on Dawson Street, Atwood Street, and Mckee Place. Newly remodeled. Some have laundry on site. Minutes from the University. For more info please call Mike at 412‑849‑8694 Before signing a lease, be aware that no more than 3 unrelated people can share a single unit. Check property’s compliance with codes. Call City’s Permits, Licensing & Inspections. 412‑255‑2175.
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M.J. Kelly Realty. Studio, 1, 2, 3 and 4 Bedroom Apartments, Duplexes and Houses. N. & S. Oakland from $750‑$2500. mjkellyrealty@gmail. com. 412‑271‑5550. www.mjkellyrealty. com
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located conveniently throughout South Oakland Rents Starting at: $740‑$825 Contact: John C.R. Kelly Office: 412‑683‑7300 Email: info@kellyre altyinc.com Website: www. jcrkelly.com Oakland near Magee Hospital. 1,2,3 BR available immedi ately. Long or short term lease, furnished or unfurnished. By the week, month or semester. Available
Duplex available. newly renovated. First, second, and third floor available. Spacious 2 BR on each floor, laundry, and parking available. $1400+utilities. Call
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for April or May also. Call 814‑403‑2798 or 412‑881‑1881.
Shadyside Shadyside: 1 and 2BR, great location, hardwood floors. Free heat. Immedi‑ ate occupancy. Call 412‑361‑2695
Rental Other Fall Rentals ‑ 1 bed room apartments very close to campus, well maintained, 24 hour laundry, secured
buildings. Rates start ing at $775 with some utilities included. Call us today at 412‑682‑7622 Studios, 1, 2, & 3 Bedroom apartments available August 2019 & sooner. Oakland, Shadyside, Friend‑ ship, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Point Breeze. Photos & current availabil‑ ity online, check out www.forbesmanage ment.net, or call 412.441.1211
full time OK starting in January; full time over the summer. $13/hour. Perfect job for sophomores & juniors, seniors planning to enter grad school, returning grad students, and first‑year law students! Mozart Management 412‑682‑7003 thane@mozartrents. com
Services Educational The Phlebotomy Training Center www. justphlebotomy.org 2 evening classes weekly, 5 weeks + excellent Clinicals. Call 412‑521‑7334.
Employment Employment Other OFFICE INTERN Shadyside Manage ment Company seeks person w/ min 2 yrs. college, for upcoming spring semester, to interview & process rental applicants, do internet post‑ ings & help staff our action‑central office. Part time or
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