LGBT activist Robyn Ochs is scheduled for a weeklong visit to Ohio University this week.
Ochs, who specializes in discussing bisexuality, has been an activist and educator for 30 years, and visits OU roughly every two years.
“Robyn talks a lot about sexual identity and the continuum of sexual identity,” said Virginia Martin, the program coordinator for the Women's Center and the LGBT Center. “How it’s fluid and often changing in people and so it’s not something that’s completely fixed.”
The total cost for her visit to OU was $9,000 and came from several different organizations, including Open Doors with help from S.A.C. Funding, the Women’s Center, Residence Life, Student Center and the LGBT Center.
The guest lectures will focus more on “challenging biphobia.” A Dine & Discuss on Tuesday as well as a Brown Bag Lunch on Thursday will be group discussions where people will have the chance for a one-on-one discussion with Ochs.
“I spent the last 30 years since trying to create the resources that would have made my life easier had they existed,” said Ochs.
The week will end Thursday with Ochs’s keynote speech, called “Beyond Binaries.”
“It’s a program that focuses on all sexual orientation identities,” Ochs said.
“We look at trying to make sense and classify our unique and complicated experiences.”
Ochs has spoken at more than 400 high schools and colleges throughout her career. She looks forward to her one-on-one conversations with students.
Her lectures and discussions are not solely for the LGBTA community. Ochs said the programs were intended for people of all sexual orientations.
“It’s okay to be complicated, it’s okay to not have all the answers” said Ochs. “Identity is a journey.”
je726810@ohiou.edu
