Bridgewater, Va. – The BC Allies have been spending time learning about and discussing different types of identities, including various sexualities and gender identities, in their weekly meetings this semester.

Some of the identities and identity-related topics they have discussed in recent meetings include pronouns, neopronouns, nonbinary identities, asexuality and aromanticism. 

“All of these people that identify this way live their lives with these identities,” said junior Garrett Estep, the BC Allies club president.  “They deserve to be talked about. They deserve to be celebrated.”

“[The meeting] was good and really informative because I feel like aromanticism and asexuality are two commonly misunderstood identities in the queer community, so it was good to review and be like ‘this is what this is, these are misconceptions,” said Estep. 

The club places an emphasis on learning about different types of people, issues and experiences. 

“The more knowledge you have, the easier it is to find common ground between people,” said senior Kai Bowman. 

The club meetings focus on different topics and issues each week, aside from just genders and sexualties, including topics like diversity, advocacy and issues facing the LGBTQ+ community.

“My big goal for this club is just to have people learning,” said Estep.