When you walk into the new Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, or GSRC, you’re met by a wall of brochures with information about mental health, gender-affirming care and sexual health resources. Next to the wall is a library area, where students can check out books relating to the LGBTQ+ community.
Past the check-in desk, just beyond the entrance area, is a shelf with games. Next to it is a shelf with safe-sex resources, like condoms, lubricant and dental dams.
The rest of the space is filled with whiteboards, study tables and comfy furniture for students to use. In the back, there are offices for students to meet with the GSRC’s professional staff.
I’m Anavi,
And I’m Paz
And today we’re exploring the foundation and purpose of Northwestern’s new and improved Gender and Sexuality Resource Center.
[music]
For Medill first-year Amelia Freeland, the GSRC gives her the space to just exist as a person.
AMELIA FREELAND: I think there’s a lot of places that are like, you have to actively be doing something there. There’s pressure and there’s not a lot of places that are just small communities where you can relax.
ASHANTI HATCHETT: For me, the GSRC is a place of community and it’s a place for as queer people to just come and belong and have a safe space.
That was Weinberg fourth-year Ashanti Hatchett, who works at the front desk of the GSRC.
The new space, located in the Foster Walker Complex, has various events, programs, and resources for LGBTQ+ Wildcats. Students can use the space to participate in programming, hang out alone, or connect with other students.
Hatchett is also part of the Black Health and Wellness Collective.
HATCHETT: We like to create space for Black queer students. And so, we’ve collaborated with Rainbow Alliance and with the GSRC for space for Black queer students.
Freeland said she likes going to the GSRC on Tuesdays because of Tuesday Tea, a weekly event where students can stop by and grab a warm drink.
FREELAND: I just get hot chocolate for a second in between classes, which is always nice.
Weinberg third-year Sarah Wachs said she enjoyed the movie night co-hosted by the GSRC and Rainbow Alliance, Northwestern’s LGBTQIA+ student organization.
SARAH WACHS: It was really nice to see the space so full and there is an entire TV lounge that’s in the main area, and it was packed, and I thought that was so nice to see so many people there.
The new space was created after Rainbow Alliance proposed an expansion of the GSRC at an Associated Student Government meeting. Hatchett said student input was taken into account while designing the GSRC. The new center is a far cry from how the space looked before.
WACHS: The GSRC used to be in this tiny little nook on the third floor of Norris and it was not conducive to community building at all. It kind of felt like the school was putting LGBTQ students on the sideburner.
WACHS: Finally having this huge space with so many different uses, so many different resources, I think it says a lot about how far we’ve come but also just how much we’ve worked for it and how important this was to us as a community to work towards it.
For Wachs, although the GSRC is a move in the right direction, she said it is only functional so long as students are aware of its existence and services.
WACHS: We’re just in Plex, and there are so many things in Plex, and it’s very easy to get lost and not be able to find where you should be going.
She continued on to say that the space is mostly used by sophomores and juniors, many of whom were involved in establishing it.
WACHS: The freshmen don’t know it’s there unless they’ve found out through a grapevine. And we’ve done a lot of trying to outreach with that, but I think we deserve more.
In the future, Wachs hopes that the GSRC will receive more funding and a dedicated building so that it is more visible to students on campus.
Nonetheless, Wachs and Freeland agreed that the space is an improvement from what the GSRC was before.
WACHS: In a sense, it’s a home away from home on campus.
FREELAND: I do think it’s probably one of the best places on campus to hang out because it’s very small and cozy. It feels like a living room.
The space is open on weekdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and can be accessed by all students on the ground floor of Plex.
HATCHETT: I want people to know that the doors are open for you to come through just to hang out or if you need help with anything.
[music]
For WNUR News, I’m Paz Baum.
And I’m Anavi Prakash
Music: “Positive Uplifting Music For YouTube Videos” by UNIVERSFIELD
