ICC revives Talkspace for LGBTQ+ students
An new ICC student support group, LGBTQ+ Talkspace, met for the first time this Thursday, in the International Room, 304A, at the East Peoria campus.
Hannah Queen, an intern at the counseling center, wanted to create a space for LGBTQ+ students to receive peer-led support. Queen discovered that last semester ICC had actually done a LGBTQ+ Talkspace, so she decided to “get it back up and running.”
The LGBTQ+ Talkspace isn’t just for queer students, it is also open to students of all minorities.
“Khloe, the president of the UNITE Club, was here, and they wanted to make it clear that both UNITE and the Talkspace are for anyone, though they are marketed as LGBTQ and queer-specific spaces,” Queen said. “We would like to keep that focus, but
inclusivity and intersectionality is core to what both UNITE and the Talkspace specifically are wanting to do. I want to make people feel safe and welcome at ICC.”
When asked about if there were any future events that LGBTQ+ Talkspace was planning to have, Queen said, “We don’t have any plans currently, but I know that there are a lot of folks that are really excited about the Talkspace and are really excited to do more events, like the Activities Fair, that are very inclusivity-minded.”
The LGBTQ+ Talkspace meetings are every Thursday, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., until the end of the semester.