May 30, 2011 - 9:36am
Campus Club: Bilateral
BY CECE ZHOU
Bilateral. Math majors think of an axis with two sides. Political science concentrators are reminded of agreements between two or parties. But for students involved in LGBTQ awareness, it is the name of the campus organization dedicated to supporting and understanding bisexuality.
The organization is a social and activism group for people on the bisexual spectrum, University alum Chelsea Slater, a former co-chair of Bilateral, wrote an in e-mail interview.
“There are very few queer groups where the main focus is being social,” Slater wrote. “This is one of them.”
The group members meet each week and usually alternate between having discussions one week and doing various activities like game nights the next, Slater wrote. The group discusses an array of issues viewed from a “bi-perspective,” ranging from the representation of bisexuals in the media, to more personal conversations about coming out of the closet, she wrote.
One of the event highlights of Bilateral is the club’s annual speed dating event, which has been held the last four years. The event consists of two portions — one for heterosexual dating and another for homosexual dating.
Slater added that group members, who are undergraduate and graduate students, attend other events in the University community, including Gayz Craze in the fall and various conferences on bisexuality throughout the year.
“(Bilateral) is a small group of people that you know well and know will go with you to other queer events,” Slater wrote.
