On Friday, Oct. 5, gay rights activist/teacher Robyn Ochs will visit Monmouth College to present a discussion entitled “Creating a Welcoming Environment for GLBTQQIA Students,” at 7 p.m. in the Morgan Room of Poling Hall. The talk, which is sponsored by the organization People Respecting Individual Sexuality at Monmouth (PRISM), is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at the event.

The GLBTQQIA population comprises those who deem themselves as being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex or allies.

Regarding Ochs’s credentials, Kim Brassfield, president of PRISM, stated, “She’s actually one of the more popular speakers in the circuit.”

Ochs is especially concerned with the areas of gay rights and equal marriage rights. According to Teresa Schryver, PRISM’s head of public relations, “She was the second person in line to get her wedding license in Massachusetts.” Ochs and her partner, Peg Preble, were married on Sept. 4, 2004, in Brookline, Mass.

Throughout the academic year, Ochs travels to multiple colleges and universities across the country, and Monmouth College is only one stop in her schedule this semester. Additional locations  she will be visiting during the 2007-2008 term include (but are not limited to) Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Oct. 8,  Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, on Oct. 9, and Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on April 10.

Ochs’s appearance on campus is set to coincide with the National Coming Out Day on Thursday, Oct. 11. For this day, PRISM is planning on creating a display of a colorfully painted “closet door” on Dunlap Terrace, for which students and interested parties may pay 25 cents for a picture of themselves “coming out of the closet” (either in relation to their sexual orientation or their status as an ally). In addition, booklets and information on “coming out” will be available in Stockdale Center outside of the main dining hall at lunch and dinner times.

“I think (National Coming Out Day) will make everyone feel more comfortable and more apt to be open about their sexuality,” said Schryer.

A question and answer session will follow Ochs’s talk. Ochs will also be leading a workshop on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. in the private dining room of the Stockdale Center. For further details, contact Brassfield at kbrassfield@monm.edu or PRISM’s sponsor, Janeve West, assistant professor of communication and theater arts, at jwest@monm.edu.

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