Rebekah Hall

322003784
EPFB 210-500
Reflection 1
September 25, 2014 marks the date when a guest speaker
representing the LGBTQIAAP community at Texas A&M came to our
EPFB 210 class to inform us of the different aspects of their community.
I am thankful for the opportunity to hear from someone so well versed
in the lifestyles of people in this community, as I have very limited
experience with it. I was involved in a local theatre company when I
was in high school and had a large exposure to homosexual men, but
that is a very small segment of the LGBTQIAAP community. Being able
to hear from this speaker cleared up a lot of questions I had about this
particular community, as well as expanded my knowledge, which will in
turn reduce any prejudice I may have had.
I had never previously realized that there was a difference
between sex and gender. Our society tends to use them
interchangeably, leading me to believe that they meant the same
thing. It was brought to my attention that sex is the biological signs of
being either male or female, made up of hormones, chromosomes, and
anatomy. Gender, on the other hand, is the unique expression of sex
that each person has. For example, someone may have the sexual
characteristics of a male, but they identify their gender differently and
express this by taking on roles that may be considered by our society
as roles typically played by females. In accordance to sex and gender,

Rebekah Hall
322003784
EPFB 210-500
transgender is an umbrella term that refers to anyone who crosses
over or challenges their societys traditional gender roles/expectations.
My eyes were opened to this information, and my understanding of this
information has equipped me with the ability to encourage the unique
gender expression in each person, and to shy away from trying to
make students conform to traditional gender roles.
The different types of self-identified sexual orientations had also
been a largely uncharted area for me regarding knowledge about the
LGBTQIAAP community. I did not understand the difference between
bisexual and pansexual. My thought process was if youre pansexual,
isnt that just being bisexual? There are only two genders. This
ignorance was tied to the fact that I did not know that there was a
difference between genders and sexes. I had not realized that there
were countless different genders, as everyone expresses their gender
identity differently. I learned that the difference between bisexual and
pansexual is that those who are bisexual are attracted to people that
identify themselves as men or women, whereas those who are
pansexual are attracted to all different types of gender identity. This
clarification helped me to better empathize with two particular friends I
have from high school. One of them recently came out that he
identifies himself as bisexual. The females that he is attracted to take
on the traditional gender roles of females in our society, and the males

Rebekah Hall
322003784
EPFB 210-500
he is attracted to take on the traditional male roles in our society. My
other friend now identifies himself as pansexual, and I realize now that
he is attracted to someone based on his or her personality, no matter
how they identify their gender.
Hearing the statistics of how people belonging to this community
experience prejudice was heartbreaking. I cringe as to comments I may
have made based on my religious to my friends in high school,
comments that may have prevented them from expressing their true
identity. I plan on taking my new knowledge and sharing love and
acceptance to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.