As part of Drew’s annual Queering the Forest event, Student Engagement hosted Safe-Sex and Sex Toy Bingo to educate students on sexual health on Oct. 14.
According to Drew’s website, “Queering the Forest is an initiative to celebrate the multiple intersecting identities of our queer community, along with educating others on these identities and how they are important to the queer experience.”
The Safe-Sex and Sex Toy Bingo event provided a fun outlet for students of all sexualities to express themselves on what otherwise could have been a boring Thursday night. Attendee Sam Goehl (‘23) said it was “a gender inclusive environment.”
The event featured traditional bingo and prizes included curated gift baskets with sex-ed books, vibrators, flavored lube, sex-themed snacks and more. The game proved to be more intense than advertised, with students sweating and yelling from anticipation of much-desired prizes, the irony of such a reaction was not lost on them.
Planned Parenthood hosted two 15-minute discussions during the event where they asked and answered questions about consent, safe sex and their organization. Students also had the opportunity to ask anonymous questions. Planned Parenthood and Morristown Medical Center also cleared misconceptions about STDs, STIs and even the COVID-19 vaccine.
Drew’s branch of Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood Generation Action, also had several student representatives at the event.
“It’s important to have these conversations for sex to be destigmatized,” Makayla Rico, Vice President of the club said. “You can’t have reproductive freedom without conversations about sex.”
Some student participants said they would make more of an investment in their health and the well being of others by using the resources they were given.
According to Hannah Paczowski (‘22) the “taboo” subject matter of the event was “just a part of Queering the Forest, it’s great!”
