The officers of FUSE look forward to meeting the incoming freshman at each of the New Student Orientations this summer!

We are taking the summer off from regular meetings, but plan to have a fun hang out and game night at some point late July or early August.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer – whether at home, taking classes at Drexel, on Co-Op, or on vacation!

See everyone in September,

FUSE

Tuesday: HIV/AIDS Presentation and Discussion at 8pm in the North Hall MPR. All are welcome!

Wednesday: Faculty/staff/student mixer (free food!) at 4:30pm in the Intercultural Center Gallery, followed by The State of LGBT in Greater Philadelphia panel, sponsored by OUTGrads, in Earle Mack School of Law, Room 140, at 6pm.

Thursday: Free screening of The Kids Are All Right at 7pm in CAT 061 (basement), featuring a brief lecture/discussion with the iSchool’s Kathy Funk.

Friday: Master class on queer literature/media with English & Philosophy Professors Gabriella Ibieta and Rebecca Ingalls, 3-5pm, MacAlister 5051A (Honors Lounge).

Saturday: Free trip to the Museum of Sex in NYC!

See you there!

Stay tuned for updates about events!

Congratulations!

FUSE members: stay tuned for information about Pride Days, which will be held during the week of May 16th.

Any suggestions of things you want to see FUSE doing?! Leave us a comment!

As members of the LGBTQ community, we often are subjected to, or fear backlash from, religious communities. For those of us who feel a sense of belonging to or have a desire to gain acceptance from a particular religious community, it can be difficult to determine how LGBTQ and religious identities can co-exist peacefully.

Join FUSE and members of Spiritual and Religious Life, including openly gay Rabbi Isabel de Koninck and LGBTQ allies Pastors Amy and Tim Emmett-Rardin from the Asbury Ministry, in a discussion about religion, spirituality, and sexuality.

The dialogue surrounding religion and the LGBTQ community can often be geared in a negative direction, but this Wednesday, we hope to have a positive and enlightening conversation, in which members of the spiritual and religious community will discuss how one can identify as LGBTQ and still feel a sense of belonging in a spiritual or religious environment.

We look forward to seeing you this Wednesday at 8 PM on the 2nd floor of the Intercultural Center for a very special FUSE event! Please bring your friends, especially if they’ve been unable to attend our general body meetings!

See you on Weds!

I think it’s an interesting and probably beneficial choice for Rutgers University to offer a gender neutral housing option. It gives the LGBTQ community a chance to be put at ease in the often scary, anxiety-driven first few months at college.

One issue or possible problem that I have thought of is that this option almost forces the student to be out to their parents and family before even going to college. While many young adults come out during high school or adolescence, not everyone does. College is a time of really discovering who you are as a person, and what makes you ‘you’, as the cliche says. Many don’t come out or begin to experiment with their sexuality until they are already at college or in a new environment. What if a student comes from a conservative or non-accepting family and cannot express his/her fears about possibly being harassed by their roommate?

I don’t think the idea is perfect, especially with the issue I mentioned above – but as a concept, I think it’s a progressive step and will benefit many LGTBQ students at Rutgers, and possibly across the country as more colleges and universities begin to incorporate a gender neutral housing option into their respective housing plans.

What does FUSE think? Feel free to comment or bring this topic up at our next meeting, which will be held the first Tuesday of Spring Term (March 29).

Good luck with the rest of Winter Term and good luck on finals!

Herbie

Welcome to FUSE’s relaunched website! We chose to create a more blog-focused site to establish a more user-friendly website, encourage interaction amongst FUSE members, and more frequent and diverse updates.

We’ll be posting regularly with updates about upcoming FUSE meetings, events, and happenings. Additionally, you’ll get to hear LGBT-related updates from FUSE officers and members.

If you’re interested in contributing a blog post, e-mail us at: drexelfuse@gmail.com .

See you Tuesday!

Love,
FUSE