To finish off Kent Interhall Council’s series of events for Sex Week, PRIDE! Kent held Let’s Talk About Sex with PRIDE!, an event in Bowman Hall on Friday night to discuss preconceived thoughts in the LGBT community and sex in an open way.

To make sure attendees and board members were respectful of others, ground rules were set to prevent offending attendees.

From a PowerPoint that was shown during the lecture, it stated that the LBGT community can face stereotypes from the media. The community typically hears the “LBGTQ loves to have sex 27/4,” fetishizing lesbianism and associating some sexualities as an experiment or a phase.

Heterosexuals are typically curious about LBGT sex and tend to ask offensive questions revolving around exactly how sex works, if it’s like the porn they see and if they have a lot of sex, the PowerPoint stated.

Throughout the speech, the event stressed the importance of consent and protection.

“Silence is not consent,” said Gabrielle Cooper, president of PRIDE! Kent. “(It’s) all about communication.”

Cooper talked about the pros and cons of male and female condoms. She stated that condoms protect individuals from sexually transmitted infections, are effective for birth control and most of the time, condoms are either cheap or free.

“If you’re going to have sex, be safe, make it fun and be educated about it,” Cooper said.

Cooper spiced up the conversation by pulling out her “box of fun” and talked about sex toys. She explained each toy, how to properly use them and proper cleaning procedures for each.

Freshman psychology major Jace McSwain thought the event was very informative since LGBTQ topics aren’t typically covered in sex education courses in high school.

“It was also a lot of fun,” McSwain said. “Talking about sex can be awkward sometimes, but this was such an open and interesting discussion.”

Freshman translation major Michelle Rivard also learned a few new things after attending the meeting.

Rivard said she hadn’t received much sex education, aside from research she has done on the internet herself.

“To have people talking about it so casually and normally really helped me learn more about not only sex, but also sex in the LGBTQ community,” Rivard said. “I thought it would be kind of weird, but it was very comfortable and fun to learn and talk with everyone.”

India Said is a diversity reporter. Contact her at [email protected]