Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

LGBT Center today to host inaugural 'Qrunch'

Feature-Image_Place-HolderWINTER31

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Center recently launched a new "queer brunch convo series," called Qrunch, to discuss safer sex at Tufts. The first event of this semester will take place today at 12 p.m. in the LGBT Center.

LGBT Center Director Nino Testa (G '13), who joined the center in August, explained that Qrunch participants will have the opportunity to engage in an open-ended conversation about safe sex resources on campus. Ariel Watriss, a nurse practitioner at Tufts Health Service, will be leading the discussion.

Watriss will speak about topics such as how to use internal condoms, the drug pre-exposure prophylaxissexually transmitted infections and human papillomavirus, according to Jonathan Moore, the social media intern at the LGBT Center.

“The conversation about safer sex is going to be open-ended,” Watriss said. “My hope, anytime that I talk to anybody about their sexual health, is that they understand that medical providers are their allies. If they have questions, they should feel free to ask.”

Today's Qrunch will be the first of two held this semester, with another two planned to take place next semester, according to Testa. Each Qrunch will cover a different topic that is related to issues of gender and sexuality.

“I planned the series as a way to think about different conversations students might be wanting to have in the issues of gender and sexuality in their lives on campus,” Testa said, adding that he wanted to create a casual and safe environment in which students could have these discussions.

Testa explained that the general format for each Qrunch is an open conversation, featuring a guest speaker to facilitate discussion and answer any questions that participants may have on the general topic. Each Qrunch is open to all students who would like to participate.

Moore, a sophomore, will help organize next month’sQrunch. He noted that Qrunch will provide a space for students to meet one another, have brunch and talk about issues queer people face on campus.

Moore explained that this series is a way for the LGBT Center and Health Service to collaborate and show students what the center offers.

“A lot of times what we have noticed is that not a lot of students know the extent to which the LGBT Center has the resources that it does,” he said.

Moore added that, in particular, he hopes the series will allow first-year students to walk away knowing that these resources are available to them.

“I hope that it is an opportunity for the LGBT Center to show that it is a safe space for students who are queer and not queer-identified," he said. "Also, I hope that it is an opportunity for students to know that there are tons of safe sex resources there.”

Testa has a similar goal for the center and the program.

“I want people to feel comfortable to come to the LGBT Center even if they haven’t come before," he said. "I want people to feel like they can stop in and share their experiences.”

Testa said that he hopes the series will give students an organized and structured way to talk about gender and sexuality topics by being a scheduled program through the LGBT Center.

“My goal is to create a space that people can count on,” he said.

Next month’s Qrunch will focus on cultural appropriation, according to Moore.