Katie Toth, Sex columnist
For about 10 years Sue Johanson has been coming to Dalhousie to talk sex.
However, on Monday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., Dalhousie’s tradition will experience a surprising twist.
Members of the Halifax and Dalhousie communities are collaborating on a queer-inclusive sex talk, which they hope will be an alternative to Johanson’s annual sex education lecture.
Hayley Gray, who is a board member for the Dalhousie Women’s Centre, sits on the Steering Committee of the Dalhousie Allies and was concerned about what she and her colleagues heard at last year’s Sex With Sue talk. “We felt that the talk was hetero-normative and refused, essentially, to talk about gay sex in any form.”
When asked to comment, Johanson is anything but evasive: “You are absolutely right, and this is not the first time I have heard that,” she responds to the request to comment about perceived hetero-normativity in her Dal show.
“The only problem is that there is so much information that kids need to know about themselves as sexual human beings, and for me to devote any great amount of time on same-sex relationships would be not fair.
“There’s so much information that young people really need to know about homosexuality, it’s a whole 2 hour presentation on its own that I do for lesbian, gay, bi and trans kids.”
Johanson says she’s “well aware” that the use of heterosexual and gendered pronouns when talking about sex can be exclusive, but “it just makes it so much easier.”
“I would love to find a way to be more gender inclusive,” she says; “For me it’s important for young people to be comfortable with themselves as sexual human beings.”
Michael Gillis, on behalf of the Dalhousie Allies and an amalgamation of concerned sexual health groups in Halifax, wrote Johanson a letter stating the group’s concerns.
Dalhousie Student Union VP of Student Life Hannah Dahn followed up on the letter, and encouraged Johanson not to use terms such as “fudge packing” or to evade discussion of same-sex relationships. Dahn says that she got a response from Johanson’s agent.
Chris Saulnier, president of the DSU, also noted what he called the “proactive” steps to get in touch with Sue.
“We contacted her, we outlined the concerns that there were with the show last year, and asked her to take those into consideration.”
When asked to comment on her response to that feedback, Johanson was surprised. “I did not get that letter. I don’t know where they sent it,” she responded. She did, however, encourage this journalist to “ask them to give me a call” as soon as possible, saying that feedback from the Dalhousie community would be “wonderful.”
Gray insists that a “supportive” environment is imperative for offering new students who want to talk about sex a space where they feel secure. “When we have all these first-years and other members of the community coming to Dalhousie and hoping to get a sex education that maybe their parents weren’t up for, having a talk that’s open to all types of sex is really important.”
Johanson says that she would “prefer if the gay, lesbian, bi, trans […community] would have their own information sessions. That way they can focus on homosexuality as such, and make it open for heterosexuals and bisexuals or just people who are curious”.
Gray, however, does not want to describe her alternative talk as “homosexual” or “queer-focused”.
“I’d call it inclusive,” she says. Gray hopes the event will be “an event that will be incorporating all types of sexuality, all types of people for whom sexual interests may vary”.
This year’s alternative sex talk will be hosted by Shannon Pringle, the educational co-ordinator for Venus Envy. After the talk, there will be an open forum where Pringle will answer written or oral questions from the floor.
Pringle was unavailable for comment at time of press.
Hayley Gray is Katie Toth’s roommate. They directed the 2010 Vagina Monologues together.
Sex With Sue: Monday September 6th: Dalhousie Student Union Building.
Sex Without Sue: Monday, September 13th: Location TBA.
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