OUTReach

About OutReach

OutReach panels are educational interventions in which volunteer gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and supportive heterosexual allied people share their personal stories and respond to questions and comments from an audience. These panels are frequently used on campus to reduce homophobic/heterosexist attitudes while also serving as an outreach program of the LGBTQ Resource Center. Often these panels are used in a classroom setting to provide personal experience in addition to course material.

Panel Description

Panels usually consist of 2-4 people that identity as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or a heterosexual ally. Panelists can be students, faculty, or staff. The general format is for panelists to share brief versions of their coming out stories or their experiences in dealing with the LGBTQ community as an ally, relative, etc. Then the panel gets involved in an active Q&A session with the audience. Everyone in attendance (panelists, too) learns not just about the LGBTQ climate and concerns but they also learn about valuing the differences that each person at Mizzou brings to the table. Sometimes funny, sometimes challenging, OutReach is a fantastic way to teach AND learn more about the diversity of the people that make up Mizzou!

Panelists

If you can talk about yourself then you can be a panelist! We try to represent as wide a variety of viewpoints as possible, so we welcome folks with various types of Mizzou affiliation. If you are wondering, "I bet they aren't really wanting to use someone like me," then - chances are - you are just the kind of panelist we are looking for! We gladly welcome faculty, staff, administrators, graduate/professional students, and undergraduates. We especially welcome folks who tend to be underrepresented in our panelist pool - particularly bisexual and transgendered persons and racial minorities. We are especially interested in adding allies to our ranks. Many of our discussions have been about what it REALLY means to be an ally. We want to be able to provide a variety of viewpoints to our host groups.

Please contact us if you are interested in getting involved or would like more information.