Happy Wednesday! Join me in reminiscing about how many hours I spent doing outreach in that very plaza, on those very couches.
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Social media is imploding all over the place; if you have made it to Bluesky from the other hell place, you can find me here!
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TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1 (no dialogue; Imogen stands before an open plaza filled with tables, under a sign that reads CLUB DAYS)
Panel 2 (Imogen is aggressively handed a club flyer)
Stranger: Hey! Do you want to join the debate club?
Imogen: Ah! No thanks!
Panel 3 (Imogen scurries away from another pampleteer in a suit)
Stranger 2: Join the campus Conservatives!
Panels 4-7 (textless; Imogen continues to walk through the plaza past clubs tables until seeing the area set up for the campus’s LGBTQ center. She looks side-to-side, furtively.)
I know the fear of joining one. Especially if you’re older. I hope she doesn’t let that fear win.
You can do it, babe! I joined the Gender & Sexuality Alliance when I went back to college. In fact, that’s where I met my best friend and roommate. Good things can happen! Plus, you might get some guidance regarding your daughter 🤞🏻
Going to a LGBT+ group and meeting queer elders for the first time is still one of my most impactful memories. Having an old man tell you how people would pose for the cops as they were being arrested and dragged out of bars and bathhouses was a real pivotal moment. At the time, my family was deep into the myth that LGBTs are soft and sensitive and can’t handle the real world, and here was this 60 year old man telling me a story most would consider traumatic with glee in his eyes. We are so strong as a community. I’m so grateful for people who organize spaces for us to connect.
It’s definitely nerve-wracking when you first make that public declaration. “Yes, I’m here for the queer community, that’s me” is a big step! But it’s so worth it. Finding local queer community has been great for my mental health and social life.
“Join the Campus Conservatives! Where our motto is ‘We Only Need To Clean Egg Off Of Our Club Building Every _Other_ Day’…!”
Imogen’s absolute nopeface!
“Don’t make eye contact don’t make eye contact…” 😆
Imogen, you’re going to LOVE the rotunda!
(a fellow alumn)