Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center (GSSRC) FAQs

Answers to your questions and language guide

Frequently asked questions about the GSSRC

Below we hope to answer questions you may have about the newly formed Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center (GSSRC), as well as provide a guide on the language and practices that the center and the Hamline community will use.

  • What happened to the Women’s Resource Center?

    To better serve current students’ needs and interests, we integrated the Women’s Resource Center and the Sexualities and Gender Diversity Programs into one space: the Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center. The new center will continue the historical and impactful work of these former programs to advance equity, build community, and cultivate leadership around gender and sexuality for everyone at Hamline.

  • Why did you change your name?

    Having a name that accurately reflects our inclusive and intersectional work is important. That is why we looked to experts in gender and sexuality for guidance as well as listened to feedback from students, faculty, and staff on what they felt a more appropriate name would be.

    We believe the Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center communicates and welcomes the diverse gender and sexual identities of everyone in the Hamline community.

  • Where is the GSSRC located?

    We are located in Anderson 320 (home of the former Women’s Resource Center). Students can use the community space for informal gatherings and meetings during daytime hours.
     
    In addition, we also provide access to free menstrual and sexual health supplies after hours in bins outside the space and in buildings across campus.

  • Who is included in the GSSRC?

    Everyone! The Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center believes that everyone has a gender identity and sexual identity, including those who identify as agender and asexual.

    The Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center provides you with a safe place to explore your identities, connect with others like you, and advocate for sex, sexuality, and gender equity. In addition, the GSSRC staff can also answer your questions and provide you with resources related to menstrual, reproductive, and sexual health.

    LGBTQIA+ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, intersex, and asexual people. The plus (+) signifies identities not explicitly included in the acronym, such as pansexual and nonbinary. There are many gender identities and sexual orientations that the acronym cannot yet fully capture.

  • How can I get involved?

    There are several ways you can get involved with the Gender, Sex, & Sexuality Resource Center. We regularly have opportunities to volunteer or intern with us, and we hire several work study positions each academic year. We also encourage you to connect with us at our many programs and events. You can always stop by our space in Anderson 320 to talk with us and learn more about our work!

Language and definitions

Please know that people often use the same language to mean different things, so it's important to clarify with others about what identity terms mean for them.
 

Word/Concept Definition
Femme A person of any gender whose gender expression is feminine. Femme is also a gender identity to some.
Healthy sexuality Healthy sexuality is knowing and feeling empowered to express sexuality in ways that are emotionally, socially, and physically enriching. This requires attention to the values, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that lead to consensual, respectful, and safe sexual interactions and relationships. Healthy sexuality is free from coercion and violence.
Intersectional feminism

People’s identities can overlap in ways that create compounding experiences of discrimination and exacerbate various forms of inequality. This is what professor Kimberlé Crenshaw meant when she coined the term intersectionality in 1989. Recently she was quoted in a Time article saying “It’s basically a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.”

Learn more about intersectional feminism from an international view, in this UN Women article.
LGBTQIA+ LGBTQIA+ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, intersex, and asexual people. The plus (+) signifies identities not explicitly included in the acronym, such as pansexual and nonbinary. There are many gender identities and sexual orientations that the acronym cannot yet fully capture.
Queer Queer describes sexual and gender identities other than straight and cisgender. We often use queer as a “bucket” to capture a range of diverse genders and sexualities, but it is also a specific and unique term that some people choose to identify as.
Trans* Trans* encompasses a broad spectrum of gender identities that includes but is not limited to: transgender, transsexual, crossdresser, drag, genderqueer, Two-Spirit (and other Indigenous identities), androgynous, agender, bigender, and people who are gender diverse and gender expressive. The asterisk is used as a visible signifier of the complexity and diversity of trans* communities.
Women Any adult who identifies as and lives as a female, regardless of their assigned sex at birth, is a women. Cisgender, transgender, and intersex people can be women.

 

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