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Samantha Krebs
COMM 462
Lori Shontz
April 15, 2014

With her striking mocha-latte colored skin, large dark eyes and full lips, Armani Beck is the type
of person you notice. Add a nose ring, four chest dermals and red-gold dreadlocks mixed in with
her other long black dreadlocks, and you have a new kind of beauty.
A senior studying psychology and gender studies at Penn State University, Beck, 21, identifies as
queer, which she describes as anything outside of the heteronormative sphere, but usually falls
under a bisexual category.
To me personally, my identity as queer means that I acknowledge my ability to be attracted to
any gender identity, gender expression or biological sex, she said. Simply put, I just like who I
like regardless of gender or sex.
In terms of her personal appearance, Beck says that while society influences us in ways we never
thought about, she likes her unique appearance and looks how she does because she loves being
different.
While Beck certainly is different from others in many aspects of her life, she wouldnt change a
thing and accepts herself for who she is, just as she accepts others for who they are. And she
hopes that her ability to accept herself will be helpful for others making the same journey.
An intern at the LGBTA Student Resource Center on campus, Beck is an active member of Penn
States Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally (LGBTA) community, and is involved in
multiple organizations and clubs on campus, such as Undertones, an organization for Gender,
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Sexual and Romantic Minorities (GSRM) of color; the LGBTA Student Coalition; the
Commission for LGBT Equality and Rainbow Roundtable, a GSRM advisory board.
She also has held events for the LGBTA community, including a professional drag show, a
student drag show, events about deconstructing stereotypes and womens sexuality, a makeup
workshop, a body positivity event with a photo-shoot and several presentations and forums.
At her internship, Beck sits straight-backed at a computer working away, surrounded by the
rainbow colored banners and flags that adorn the office.
She occasionally chimes in on the various conversations taking place around her by other
students, sometimes taking a minute to check her iPhone, slurp up some Chef Boyardee
Beefaroni or take a sip of hot tea.
Allison Subasic, director of Penn States LGBTA Student Resource center, said that Beck is a
brilliant and compassionate young woman who is an advocate for many groups on campus and
thinks that Beck will continue to use her compassion and caring around social justice issues to
make change in the world throughout her life.
Ill be sorry to see her [Beck] leave Penn State, but I know she will do great things with her
life, Subasic said. She reaches out to members of the [LGBTA] community and addresses any
questions or concerns they might have.
Beck said she got involved in the LGBTA community because she never had the opportunity to
explore her sexuality before coming to Penn State.
In fact, she said that before she came to PSU, she had an inappropriate and a very stereotypical
view of the [LGBTA] community.
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I thought trans folk were strange, that gay men were feminine, and that lesbians were also
strange, she said.
Now Beck says she is grateful the community exists.
Theres so much diversity and its really amazing. Sure, you see femme gay men and butch
lesbians, but there are so many people that defy stereotypes and have identities that most of the
public has never heard of, she said.
When discussing her involvement in the community, Beck says she feels that a persons
background always affects them.
I believe that even if you cant identify it, youre always affected by your upbringing and past,
she said.
She explained that she came from a low-income community whose inhabitants were very closed-
minded, and that while she knew she was attracted to both men and women, she never had a term
for her sexual orientation.
Beck said that she didnt learn what bisexuality was until her freshman year of high school and
that she did much of her active learning about the LGBTA community outside of her home.
Beck described that when she first came out to her parents, her mother called her disgusting
and told her to get out of my face. However, she said her father was more tolerant of her
identity and told her that he accepts her for who she is.
I think my mom hoped it was a phase, and I think my dad kind of assumed that to some extent it
was, Beck said. I told him I had a girlfriend in high school, so he knew it wasnt an
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experimental college thing. But at a later point he told me that he hopes that at some point I get
over this bisexual freak show thing.
Though she said its been an ongoing journey with her family, Beck said she is still privileged
that her dad helps pay for her education, neither of her parents have disowned her and she can
bring a partner home of any gender if she chooses to do so.
But Beck says that while a lot of people, her family included, are relatively OK with the more
common sexualities, like being gay or lesbian, a lot of people still have misconceptions about the
transgender community and some still have a warped idea about what bisexuality is.
I had one friend tell me that Im mostly straight because I really only date men, she explained.
But in reality, my sexuality is more than just my behavior; its also how I feel in my
attractions.
Beck stays involved in the LGBTA community because she has a genuine desire to be the best
ally she can be for all marginalized identities and that being an ally is very important because the
community just wants to be accepted for who they are.
I came out when I was 16 and visited PSU for the first time when I was 17once I got
involved, I really became invested in making the world a better place for all members of the
community, she explained.
Beck is a unique combination of identities herself and identifies as not just queer, or black or a
woman, but as a queer black woman.
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I feel like people fear what they dont understand. I truly believe that hostility and intolerance
of the queer community comes from a lack of understanding and often, a lack of exposure, she
said.
While Beck has been treated differently because of her sexual orientation, she says it was mainly
in her romantic relationships. For example, she said a male partner felt as if she would cheat on
him because of her attraction to both genders.
In one relationship I really wasnt even allowed to have friends because my ex thought that I
would have sex with all of them, Beck said. Also, when I tell people that Im bisexual, a lot of
men ask me if I like threesomes, which is a common myth surrounding non-monosexuality.
Beck said she hopes that by being so open and public about her sexual orientation and identity
and with her knowledge of other identities, she can use her personal experiences to help
uneducated people learn more about the LGBTA community.
I have a loving spirit, Beck finished. I really genuinely want to increase the quality of life for
all marginalized and oppressed communities. I want to be the voice for people that dont have
one. I know that Im privileged in many ways and I feel that its my duty to use my privilege to
help others without it, she said. Dont assume you know someones identity, and recognize
your privilege.