In an increasingly polarized political atmosphere, the LGBT Center at Ohio University continues to be a safe and active campus organization. Founded in 1998, it is a largely successful contribution to campus operating from a small space in Baker Center.
Throughout the past few weeks alone, the center has sponsored many events on campus, including the A Mile Together walk in support of survivors, the “It’s On Us” Rally (also in support of survivors), and the Start By Believing event.
The LGBT Center has been known to work with other groups, such as the Women’s Center headed by Dr. Geneva Murray, F-Word Performers, Intersectional Feminist Alliance, Better Bystanders, Counseling and Psychological Services, African American Studies, the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, and Survivor Advocacy Program. The LGBT Center also hosts craftivism, also known as Self Care with Pride, on Fridays.
The center also has a weekly newsletter advertising a multitude of events so students can be informed about events on campus and have a better opportunity to participate, as well as an entire list of LGBT resources (shown below). It advertises for Open Ohio, free screenings of documentaries and other films at Athena Cinema, and a massive amount of various events.
The LGBT Resources are as follows:
- LGBT Center (Baker 354). 740-593-1239, lgbt@ohio.edu, www.ohio.edu/lgbt
- Office For Diversity and Inclusion, 740-593-2431, www.ohio.edu/diversity
- Counseling and Pyshcological Services, 740-593-1616 (24-hour line), Hudson 3rd Floor
- Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP), 740-597-7233 (also 24-hour), www.ohio.edu/survivor
- Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, 740-591-4266, www.saopseoh.org
- LGBT National Help Center: 1-888-843-4564, www.glbthotline.org
- National Suicide Prevention LifeLine, 1-800-273-8255 (24 hour), www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
- Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860, www.translifeline.org
One of the LGBT Center’s Bookcases
The LGBT Center also has its own library for students to check out, stocked with everything from theory about gender to fiction to erotica. There’s a plethora of information readily available to anyone who wants it.
delfin bautista, head of the LGBT Center, has stated that this center is a safe place for LGBT people and people of color.
The center is a relaxing place to hang out, eat lunch, have conversations about social inequality. There’s no pressure to be anything other than yourself. The center celebrates diversity rather than merely tolerating it, and for that, it is an incredibly useful resource on Ohio University’s Athens campus.
The LGBT Center is located in Baker 354 in the administrative office hallway (with the huge rainbow flag on the door). Stop by to get free condoms, have small (or large) talk, or get involved on campus.
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