Queerfest a success

Gay Straight Alliance hosted its annual "Queerfest" this past week and it was an enormous success. Holding events from the Drag Ball to a transgender solo performance by S. Bear Bergman, the GSA filled the week with education and entertaining affairs. The main goal of Queerfest is to educate the College community as well as the Allentown community about sex in a fun and innovative manner. By holding new events each year, GSA hopes to have a positive effect on the community as well as inform college students about sex in an entertaining and captivating way. Co-President Alex Breiding comments, "Each event should have taught different things, each equally important, about the queer community." On Monday night, members of GSA went to the different residential halls on campus and dorm-stormed with loads of baked goods. GSA wanted to advertise all of the events that were taking place that week as well as solicit donations in exchange for the baked goods to help raise money for their club.

The Sextival, a sexual festival that is themed around sexual health, took place on Tues., Mar. 10 in Seegers. This event has been a part of Queerfest for quite some time and it was the biggest success of the week, drawing between 100 and 150 people throughout the night.

The Allentown Women's Center, along with GSA, put this event together and answered questions regarding sex and took part in the games as well. Inventive, amusing games were presented for guests to play as a way of learning important information about sex. This includes many contests such as blind-folded lubricant taste-testing, blind-folded pin-the-finger-on-the-clitoris. There were also raffles for sex toys and educational DVD's. Breiding stated, "The Sextival was aimed to educate the students on their own sexual health and to make them more comfortable communicating with others about the subject."

"Monday Night in Westbrook," a solo performance featuring S. Bear Bergman focused on a comedy about the Holocaust from a Jewish, as well as from a queer perspective, took place on Thurs., Mar. 12. Bergman is one of the leading transgender performers in America as well as a writer, gender-jammer, lecturer, and activist. Breiding asserted, "The transgender community is often times overlooked at queer events, so the GSA felt that it was of great importance to include Bear in the QueerFest." Along with the Gay Straight Alliance, this program was co-sponsored by Campus Progress, Student Activities, and Hillel. All of these groups were honored to have such a prominent guest perform at the College. Around 50 people attended this event including students, staff, and members of the Allentown community. Adrian Shanker asserted, "The audience was overwhelmingly amazed by the performance!"

This was the most serious event of the week as it connected the identity of being Jewish during the Holocaust and being queer in today's society. Breiding remarked, "The performance by Bear was in hopes of showing the connections between gender, sex, religion, and race."

Bergman explores the intersecting worlds of art, individuality, confrontation, and discrimination. He touches upon the constant struggle of being queer in today's society, where conservative values trample on unconventional behavior and beliefs. While conducting the performance in a storytelling manner, Bergman's diversified performance captivates the audience with a prayer for the dead along with a song-and-dance segment.

The notorious Drag Ball occurred on Fri., Mar. 13 in the Great Room. This event consisted of music and dancing, and was a general great time. Many people came dressed in Drag and danced in free heteronormativity.

Celebrating the attention and success of the Queerfest events, GSA is already beginning to plan more events that will occur this semester. In April, the GSA is hosting another talk and discussion about gender, sex, and race.

Next semester, GSA is proud to invite Scott Turner Schoffield, a transgender performer, to Muhlenebrg's campus. Breiding stated, "As the GSA co-president, I am hoping to make the GSA a more inclusive group by opening its arms to every individual who wants to make a difference here at Muhlenberg and in our community. I also plan to make strides towards showing the interconnectedness of race, gender, sex, and sexuality through lecturers and other events." GSA is excited for their upcoming events and pleased with the success of Queerfest 2009.