Over the course of the podcast, we’ve talked a lot about different facets of our identities as graduate students. For this month’s episode, we wanted to share our experiences as sexual minorities as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Alex Knopps and Emily Johnson share their experiences of growing up in a conservative environment, as well as, how their experiences shaped who they are. Alex shares his coming out story, so others know that what they are experiencing is normal and okay. Emily adds by sharing her similar journey as well as learning about her sexuality while in a relationship. Together we discuss the importance of finding and creating safe spaces so they can exist without fear of violence.
Afterward, we discuss the impact of living in the United States and how many states vote against human rights. We encourage all of our listeners to know how your state’s representatives vote on different human rights issues by checking out the Human Rights Campaign: https://www.hrc.org/resources/state-scorecards/p4
Next, Emily Hackerson discusses particular challenges in this topic in the field of biology. The papers below investigate LGBTQ+ student experiences in biology classrooms.
For more information on the roots of using biology in public policy see the article here.
For science News, Odalis discusses the recent news from the FDA that the ban on gay men donating blood is to be reexamined for a modernized risk assessment.
See the FDA News Release from January 27th, 2023
The abstract of the paper Odalis discussed can be found here.
Read or listen to the NPR report on the news release
Hosts this month: Alex Knopps, Emily Johnson, Odalis Garcia, and Emily Hackerson
Additional Resources:
Here are additional resources for any of our listeners.
Check out The Trevor Project! They list a lot of great information that can help you explore yourself, find resources to talk to people in your life about your identities, chat with other LGBTQ+ youth, and get mental health support.
Check out Pflag here. This is a great resource for families and allies, is a good place to learn about current legislative challenges LGBTQ+ folks face, and is U.S.A. based.
Finally, check out GLAAD! They have a great resource for a breakdown of different identities.
Next Month, we discuss what we do to have fun in grad school!
